AVC WOMEN'S SENIOR VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : JAPAN WINS GOLD, DAWN MACANDILI NAMED 2ND BEST LIBERO

Japan was named the champion of the 2017 AVC Women's Senior Volleyball Championship after their come from behind victory over Thailand. The Japanese overcame a 2 set lead of the Thais and win the last 3 sets en route to a thrilling 5 set victory: 26-28, 20-25, 25-16, 25-16 and 15-7.

Korea won the bronze after beating East Asian rival China in an earlier game. The Philippines finished in eight place after bowing to Kazakhstan in a 5-set thriller as well.

The final standings are as follows:

2017 Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship final standings

🏐 #AVCWomensSCH pic.twitter.com/c6PRSWTJl7

— VolleyMetricsPH (@VolleyMetricsPH) August 17, 2017

Individual awards were also given out. And for the surprise of everyone, a 2nd best libero award was given out and it went to Philippines' Ms Everywhere Dawn Macandili. Here is the list of individual awardees:

#AVCWomensSCH individual awards @spinph pic.twitter.com/pp1dlcqqDk

— Mei-Lin Lozada (@meilinspin) August 17, 2017

Congratulations to all winners! To the Philippine girls, let's now win that bronze in the SEA Games!

AVC WOMEN'S SENIOR VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : PHILIPPINES BEATS VIETNAM IN 4 SETS

In their last game in the second round of the AVC Women's Senior Volleyball Championship, the hosts Philippines just beat one of the Southeast Asian greats Vietnam in a 4 set thriller at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.

The Philippines has to come from behind to win the first two sets, 27-25 and 26-24. The third set was handily won by Vietnam, building a commanding lead early in the set, which ended at 17-25. The fourth set was not even a close one. The Philippines lead almost the whole set, building as much as a 6 point lead. In the end, a combination play for Alyssa Valdez ended the match. Here is the match point of Valdez as posted in the ABS-CBN Sports Twitter page:

.@kimfajardo9 to @AlyssaValdez2 FOR THE WIN! #AVCWomensSCH pic.twitter.com/o0sgVIzDal

— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) August 14, 2017

Valdez top scored the Philippines with 20 points and Jaja Santiago added 19 markers. It is also good to note that we also had superb floor defense from Dawn Macandili and blocks from Aby Marano.

If this is a good gauge for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games, we really have a good chance in getting a podium finish this year after 12 years since we last won the bronze from the regional meet when we last hosted the games in 2005.

The Philippines will next meet another Southeast Asian volleyball giant Thailand in the quarterfinals tomorrow night.

Big congratulations to the Philippine girls!