Alas Pilipinas put up a gritty stand but fell short again, this time against Chinese Taipei, 25-19, 23-25, 30-28, 25-20, in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Men’s Nations Cup on Wednesday night (Manila time) in Manama, Bahrain.

The Filipino Spikers’ second loss in Group B takes them out of the running for a spot in the quarterfinals and sends them to the classification phase anew.

After regaining its bearings and tying the match in the second set, Alas Pilipinas pushed its foes to a marathon third, but was doomed with three straight points from Chinese Taipei.

Chinese Taipei rode the momentum into the fourth set, where Alas struggled to close the gap, to wrap up the match and deny a potential decider.

Marck Espejo powered the Philippines in a losing effort with 26 points off 22 attacks and four blocks. Leo Ordiales added 15 points, including two service aces.

Chinese Taipei leaned on Yu-Sheng Chang’s 24 points build on 21 attacks and three blocks along with Yi-Kai Wen’s 15 points and Yu-Chen Chang’s 12.