MANILA, Philippines — In most sports, especially volleyball, height is might.
Kazakhstan proved this in a quick, unforgiving 25-15, 25-9, 25-17 victory over Singapore yesterday to jumpstart its campaign in the Asian Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Katrina Belova and skipper Sana Anarkulova, the tallest players in the lineup at 6’2,” presided over the carnage with 15 and 13 points, respectively, as the Kazakhs took the early lead in Pool B.
It was a strong start for a Rishat Gilyazutdinov-mentored squad, ranked 44th in the world and whose best finish was a silver medal in the 2016 Asian Cup in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam behind China.
Kazakhstan is eyeing a ticket to the Women’s Challenger Cup which the Philippines will host from July 4 to 7 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, and if the stars align, a berth to the prestigious FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League.
Meanwhile, Alas Pilipinas makes its tournament debut, clashing with Australia in the 7 p.m. main game of the heavy four-game bill tonight.
The Filipinas will try to make a big impression before the hometown crowd even though they have already secured a slot to the forthcoming Challenger Cup.
Another motivation that the Jorge Souze de Brito-mentored squad could use was its stinging four-set defeat to the Aussies in the classification round in last year’s edition of this annual meet in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia.
“Expect us to try our best, be competitive no matter what and always there to fight,” said De Brito.
The team will be skippered by Jia de Guzman and bannered by a mix of veterans in Sisi Rondina, Cherry Nunag, Dawn Catindig and Dell Palomata, rising stars Eya Laure, Vanie Gandler, Faith Nisperos, Fifi Sharma Jen Nierva and collegiate standouts Angel Canino, Thea Gagate, Julia Coronel and Ara Panique.