PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—The Philippine men’s volleyball team got off to a rough start with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 loss to defending champion Indonesia at the start of the preliminaries in the 32^nd Southeast Asian Games at the National Olympic Stadium here.

The Filipino spikers struggled with their erratic plays particularly in the first two sets and only displayed their resilient attempts late in the third to absorb their first defeat in the group stage.

The Philippine men's volleyball team absorbs its first loss in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.

Steven Rotter and Joshua Umandal spearheaded the country’s assault especially in the third frame where they trimmed their 16-12 deficit to 24-23, but a crosscourt spike from Fahri Septian Putratama sealed the victory for the Indonesians.

Despite the defeat, PH team’s Brazilian coach Sergio Veloso is still confident of his crew.

“I think the best phrase for that is sometimes we win,  sometimes the opponents win. But every time, we learn,” Veloso said.

“I told them to use their energy, put their energy out there. In the first two sets, we didn’t have that, and we only had it in the third. But I’m sure our players will learn from that,” he added.

The Indonesians showed their strength in the second frame where they led 15-9 behind the efforts of Rivan Nurmulki.

The Filipinos next face another tough rival in host Cambodia Thursday, May 4, with hopes of recovering from the loss.

Cambodia is actually the bronze medalist in the previous edition held in Vietnam last year.

The PH team aims to regain lost glory of a historic silver medal finish in the 2019 edition held in Manila after finishing fifth last year.