Vietinbank wins first match at Asian club champs

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s Vietinbank defeated the Philippines’ Rebisco-PSL 25-21, 17-25, 25-20, 25-14 in Group B of the Asian Women’s Club Samruk Kazyna Volleyball Championship in Kazakhstan on May 26.

Dinh Thi Thuy scored 24 points in her international debut with the club.

Thuy started slowly but the longer she played the more she grew into the match at the Boris Alexandrov Sports Palace which saw Rebisco-PSL opening with 8-4 lead by the first technical time-out.

Vietinbank caught up by setting up attacks for Le Thanh Thuy and led 16-15 by the second technical time-out.

The Vietnamese side stepped up their aggressiveness to score points, with captain Nguyen Thi Xuan and Pham Thi Kim Hue helping to secure a 25-21 first set victory.

In the next set, the teams were pretty even, making the same errors.

Alyja Santiago proved to be Rebisco-PSL’s main weapon, as she fired from the wing and the backline.

Rebisco-PSL led 8-7 at the first technical time-out. They continued to find better rhythm, and handled the ball well in transition plays. Vietinbank, on the other hand, struggled to connect between lines. They suffered from errors in service and ball-handling, which allowed Rebisco-PSL’s 25-17 win in the second set.

Vietinbank reorganised in the third set, launching a series of attacks on Rebisco-PSL who were forced into many errors.

Dinh Thi Thuy continued to rack up the points and brought Vietinbank to a 25-20 win.

She and her teammates maintained their performance level in the fourth set. Their threat forced errors from their opponents, to settle into a 16-10 lead by the second technical time-out. They surged to a 25-14 set and sealed victory.

Vietinbank will face Japan’s Hisamitsu Seiyaku Springs today. — VNA