CIGNAL absorbed a 12-25, 21-25, 18-25 loss to China’s Shanghai Bright Men’s Volleyball Club in the preliminaries, 12-25-, 21-25, 18-25, on Tuesday in the AVC Champions League at the Panasonic Arena in Osaka, Japan.
The HD Spikers, composed of the Alas Pilipinas national men’s volleyball team, failed to score a win in Pool B after two tries to end their bid in the eight-day Asian tourney.
Wing spiker Louie Ramirez and opposite hitter Steven Rotter fueled the offense of the Cignal-Alas with 11 points apiece while veteran Marck Espejo chipped in seven markers.
Xiu Chengcheng propelled the Chinese team with 16 points on 12 attacks, three blocks and an ace while Polish reinforcement Michal Kubiak and local Wang Bohan added 10 points each.
The Angiolino Frigoni-mentored Nationals earlier succumbed to hosts and Yuji Nishida-led Osaka Bluteon 11-25, 21-25, 21-25 last Sunday.
With the preliminary result, S.VLeague’s runner-up Osaka Bluteon, which swept Pool B with a 2-0 record and Chinese Volleyball Men’s League reigning titlists Shanghai Bright (1-1) will advance to the knockout quarterfinals.
For the knockout and succeeding stages, the competition with a USD 50,000 prize money will move to the 8,635-seater Shimadzu Arena in Kyoto.
Only the finalists in the 12-team tourney will secure spots in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship.
Alas’ participation in the continental competition was part of its preparations ahead of the World meet set for Sept. 12 to 28 on home soil.
