The Women's National Volleyball Team's Game is in Shambles, Vietnam's Points Are in Shambles

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, FRIDAY — The women's national volleyball team failed to deliver a maximum performance in their opening match at the 2025 SEA V League against Vietnam. They appeared unsteady and seemed confused with their own playing pattern. Indonesia became a "point reservoir" for Vietnam.

The Indonesian women's volleyball national team suffered a heavy defeat of 0-3 (11-25, 11-25, 22-25) against Vietnam in a match at Terminal 21 Korat, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, on Friday (1/8/2025). The women's national team struggled to develop their game and was unable to deliver their best performance.

"We are currently evaluating why the performance of the children has significantly declined today. We are trying to find out why their play is far from their capabilities, whether it is a problem in coaching, fatigue from travel, or perhaps another issue," said the national women's team coach, Octavian.

Octavian added that the coaching staff will strive to discuss with the players in order to find a solution promptly. He hopes the team can bounce back in the next match against a formidable opponent, Thailand, on Saturday (2/8/2025).

From the very beginning of the first set, Indonesia was immediately trailing Vietnam by seven points with a score of 4-11. The attacks from Megawati Hangestri and her teammates often failed to penetrate Vietnam's defense. Conversely, there seemed to be a significant gap in their own defense, making it difficult to anticipate the opponent's attacks.

Although in the third set Indonesia's performance improved by being able to match Vietnam, that performance was not enough for the "Red and White" team to secure a victory. Vietnam instead demonstrated their dominance on the field and ultimately concluded the match in one hour and twenty minutes.

Indonesia has actually fielded a full force. Indonesia's mainstay opponents, Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi and Arsela Nuari, have returned to the national team after missing the previous AVC Nations in June.

Arsela also scored 11 points, the most on the national team and only one point behind the leading scorer on the field, Tran Thi Bich Thuy (Vietnam). Megawati contributed 10 points, followed by outside hitter Mediol Yoku with 8 points. However, their contributions were not enough to lift the team's performance.

Outside hitter Ersandrina Devega Salsabila, who shone at the AVC Nations Cup, has also not been as good as last month, when she was the tournament's top scorer. Devega has only contributed five points for the women's national team.

The manager of the Indonesian women's national team, who is a former national player, Luciana Taroreh, believes that the defeat against Vietnam was due to a weak defense. This also made it difficult for Indonesia to build an attack.

"Our defense was not good, making it difficult to build an attack. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese block was solid, and their defense was also strong," said Luciana Taroreh, who won a gold medal at the 1985 Bangkok SEA Games with the women's national team.

Indonesia's performance ultimately became a point reservoir for Vietnam. The victory allowed Vietnam to successfully secure three points in their opening match, simultaneously placing them at the top of the temporary standings with a set ratio advantage over Thailand, which also achieved a victory.

The SEA V Women's League is only participated in by four teams, namely Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Each team will face each other in this two-round tournament.

This year, after being held in Thailand until August 3, 2025, the SEA V League will continue in Vietnam from August 8 to 10, 2025. In each round, the team at the top of the standings will be declared the champion. Points from the two rounds will be accumulated to determine the final positions of the teams in the standings.

With that victory, Vietnam further asserted its dominance over Indonesia in the past six years. They have consistently won whenever facing Indonesia, including in the SEA V League since the 2022 edition.

Indonesia last won against Vietnam in the SEA V League 2019, which was still titled ASEAN Grand Prix. In two rounds of the tournament held in the Philippines, Indonesia successfully defeated Vietnam 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-15) and 3-1 (29-27, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17).

After that, Indonesia has consistently struggled against Vietnam. In fact, just one step away from the AVC Challenge Cup 2023 championship title in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia was defeated 2-3 (18-25, 27-25, 25-21, 20-25, 13-15) by Vietnam in the final match.