MANILA – They had the chance to end the game in four sets but the Philippines, backed by National University (NU), wasted two match points in the fourth before running out of gas in the fifth set against Kazakhstan.

The Philippines surrendered a heartbreaking 21-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-27, 6-15 loss against the tournament’s no. 5 seeded team Kazakhstan to kick off their bid at the 2023 Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship in Thailand Wednesday.

Trailing for most of the fourth set, the Philippines slowly crawled back to overtake Kazakhstan, 19-18 – thanks to the attack errors of their opponent.

Tied at 21, Vangie Alinsug hammered two straight attacks to give the country a 23-21 breather. She would then put them at match point after a down-the-line kill, 24-22.

But a good hit from Kazakhstan followed by a costly attack error by Alyssa Solomon extended the fourth and ultimately gave their opponent a chance to gain momentum.

True enough, a through-the-block spike and a spiking error from Alinsug forced the game into a deciding fifth set.

With all the momentum shifted on their side, Kazakhstan wasted no time in the deciding frame building an early 6-1 separation, capped by a down-the-line kill.

The Philippines trimmed it down to 3-6 but that was their last hurrah in the match as the Kazakh squad dropped a fiery 5-0 run down the stretch to reach at match point with a commanding 14-5 lead.

Bella Belen would save one point off a drop ball but Kazakhstan ended it immediately in the ensuing play for their first win of the tournament.

Philippines will next face the powerhouse China in Pool D on Thursday.