The Akari-Philippines U18 Women’s Volleyball Team yielded to reigning champions Japan in three sets, 5-25, 16-25, 14-25, in Pool B of the 15th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship at the Ratchaburi Gymnasium in Ratchaburi, Thailand, Tuesday night.

The Philippines slid down to 0-2 and is headed to the classification round after failing to secure a win in the group stage.

In the first set, the Philippines could not find holes in Japan’s defense as it only managed to score one clean hit courtesy of Avril Bron’s quick attack, while the rest of the Pinay’s five points came from the Japanese’s errors.

Akari-Philippines showed a much better fight in the second frame, only trailing Japan by two, 6-8, early on in the set. However, the latter went on a 10-2 run to create an 18-8 advantage. The Pinays countered with a 5-1 run late in the set, 16-23, but the deficit was too big to overcome as the Japanese finished it off to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Japan rode on momentum in the third set, establishing a 14-7 lead and never looking back to bag the win.

Denesse Daylisan topped the scoring for the Philippines with five points, while Avril Bron, Harlyn Serneche, and Lianne Penuliar scored two points apiece.