Alas Pilipinas Men stumbled against Indonesia on Tuesday, dropping a straight-set match, 17-25, 25-27, 24-26, at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, but still secured a spot in the semifinals of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games as the second seed in Pool B.
The Philippines struggled to find their rhythm, with service errors and attacking miscues allowing the Indonesians to dominate the first two sets. Despite a late rally in the third, highlighted by Marck Espejo tying the score at 24-all with a precise cross-court hit, Indonesia pulled away with key points from Rivan Nurmulki and Daffa Naufal Mauluddan.
“We were focusing on this game, it's not that we were not focusing. We just had some things that were not going well today, and I think it's very evident that the serve was not going well,” said head coach Angiolino Frigoni.
Frigoni noted that service errors were costly, particularly in the tight second and third sets. He remained positive, however, emphasizing the team’s need to shift focus to the semifinals.
“We had the same problem against Myanmar, and I hope we get better with our service because without service, we lost 25–23 and 26–24. I’m not disappointed at all with the team, except [for] some mistakes we made, but it’s okay — that can happen,” the Italian coach added.
Bryan Bagunas led the Philippines with 16 points, all from attacks, while Espejo added nine and Leo Ordiales contributed eight markers. For Indonesia, Nurmulki was unstoppable with 22 points, including 10 in the final set, supported by 19 attacks, two aces, and a block. Boy Arnez Arabi added 12 points, and Daffa chipped in nine.
Alas Pilipinas will face either defending champion Thailand or Vietnam in Thursday’s semifinal, marking the team’s first SEA Games semifinal appearance since the Nationals’ silver-medal run in 2019.
