Philippines still falls vs Thailand despite additional firepower in SEA V-League

MANILA, Philippines -- The needed scoring punch has arrived for the Philippine men’s volleyball team in the SEA V-League, but it failed to give them their first win in the second leg of the tournament.

Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo provided the much-needed spark for the Philippines in their game against Thailand, but it was not enough to hand the Filipinos a win Friday night at the City of Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

Bagunas scored 25 points, while Espejo, who exited the game in the fourth set and returned late in the final set, chipped in 24.

The first leg’s best opposite spiker, Steven Rotter, provided 17 points.

Having Bagunas and Espejo in tow is definitely a welcome development for Rotter, who tried to will the Philippines into a win in the first leg of competition with high-scoring affairs.

Rotter scored 10 in the first game against Indonesia; 19 against Thailand; and 28 from the five-set heartbreaker against Vietnam.

In the three games, teammate Joshua Umandal is technically the biggest support Rotter had, with 10, nine and 15 points in the three games.

Umandal scored eight points on the Philippines’ home turf.

But with all the production the Philippines had, it was not enough to silence the young Thai squad, who had a game-high 28 points from Jenthaisong Supakorn, 22 from Chantai Jakkrit and 11 from Thungkham Chaiwat.

Errors did not help the Philippine side either, as they had 29 errors against 26 from the Thailand side, according to the official statsheet of the game.

The Philippines will try to break through and finally win a game in the SEA V League as it faces Indonesia at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Vietnam will also face Thailand at 3 p.m.