Alas Pilipinas Men take a final victory over New Zealand to avoid a winless outing at the AVC Nations Cup.
No winless campaign for Alas Pilipinas as they doomed New Zealand to a last place finish, winning in four sets, 25-16, 23-25, 25-11, 25-22, in their classification match at the AVC Nations Cup in Manama, Bahrain on Tuesday.
After postponement threatened the competition due to rising tensions in the Middle East, Alas was able to work it out one more time to finish the competition with a 1-3 slate.
[READ: AVC Nations Cup proceeds with final day amid Middle East tensions]
Steve Rotter paced the Philippines in the breakthrough victory as two others also finished in twin digit scoring. The Fil-Am hitter topped the scoring column with 20 markers.
Save for a hiccup in set 2 where they played catch up against New Zealand, Alas Pilipinas were in control for the most part of their match.
However, late in set 4, Alas needed to fend off a comeback try from their foes who were within a point, 21-22, after an attack from New Zealand top scorer Mana Placid.
But Marck Espejo scored on back-to-back points — including one that was challenged by New Zealand but was ultimately found unsuccessful — to put the Philippines at match point.
Though Placid scored anew to save one match point, Peng Taguibolos provided the game-winning point with an attack to finish off the Kiwis, 25-22.
Espejo and Louie Ramirez were the two other Alas players in double digit scoring with 14 markers each.
Taguibolos, for his part, added seven points.
Seth Grant top scored for New Zealand with 13 points in the losing effort.
Alas thus retained its 10th place finish in the AVC Nations Cup which the team also achieved last year.