Alas women settle for 4th

MANILA, Philippines — Maybe a little more time is all Alas Pilipinas women need to get things right.

But for now, the Nationals would have to deal with the pain first as they seek the path to greatness after falling to the Indonesians, 20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-16, and finishing winless in the SEA V Cup Leg 1 in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday.

It was the third straight defeat by the Filipinas that sent them screeching to fourth and last while the Indonesians, the youngest team here, claimed their fourth third place finish in this annual meet.

If there was a silver lining, Alas, which has set its sights at pulling off a miracle in next month’s Asian Games in Aichi, Japan, was actually in it in all those defeats.

It stole a set from last year’s Leg 2 champion Vietnam and snatched two versus Southeast Asian behemoth Thailand, although the latter fielded only their younger players with their stars opting to focus on the VNL.