Volleybelles crash out

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand – The Philippine team failed to sustain a fiery start and yield a four-set loss to Iran, its second straight in the 17th Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship at the Lipatapalop Hall here.

Relentless with both digging and receiving, the Power Pinays frustrated the Iranians by forcing them to commit multiple errors to take the opening set of the match.

But the Middle East country was quick to regroup, completing a sweep of the next three sets to pull off a 25-19, 20-25, 18-25, 15-25 win, its first in the meet following a three-set loss to top team China on opening day (25-11, 25-16, 25-17).

The loss gave the Power Pinays a 0-2 record in Pool B, quashing their quarterfinal bid as they are now relegated to the classification phase of the biennial tournament.