Alas men fall to Chinese Taipei, crash out of Volleyball Nations Cup

MANILA, Philippines — Alas Pilipinas played competitive against a higher-ranked Chinese Taipei but just couldn’t find ways to win and stumbled in a 25-19, 23-25, 30-28, 25-20 defeat Thursday and out of the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup in Manama, Bahrain.

It was the second straight defeat for the Nationals, who also succumbed to Pakistan on Tuesday, 25-18, 25-12, 18-25, 25-22, that eliminated them from the quarterfinals after finishing third and last in Pool C.

The Pakistani and the Taiwanese, both 1-0, have already clinched seats in the quarters regardless of the result of their duel Thursday.

The result sent the Filipinos in a relegation match for ninth to 11th places, where they will battle their Southeast Asian rival Thailand Friday and New Zealand Tuesday.

Alas is preparing for the FIVB World Championship the country will host this September at the Mall of Asia Arena and Smart Araneta Coliseum as well as the SEA Games in Thailand in December.