The Philippine women’s volleyball team suffered an 18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25 quarterfinals defeat at the hands of Australia in the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Women in East Java, Indonesia Friday night, June 23. 

The youth-laden Philippines is coming off a hard-earned five-set victory against India two days ago but couldn’t ride the momentum to their quarters assignment. 

The PH spikers, who were down two sets, recovered in the third set and looked promising in repeating the Creamline-Philippines’ five-set victory over the Aussies in last year’s edition. 

However, the Filipinas couldn’t hold out in the last stretch of the fourth set and eventually dropped all hopes for a medal finish, leaving them relegated to the classification round. 

The duo of Shaya Adorador and Faith Nisperos carried out the onslaught for the Philippines as Michelle Cobb showcased her stellar playmaking in that third set fightback before she was subbed out in the fourth that ended their promising run. 

With no semifinals appearance, the Philippines is set to face Iran on Saturday, June 24, with the winner heading into the battle for fifth either against Australia or Uzbekistan.