After a journey of winning all in the group stage, coach Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa and her students face the biggest challenge since the beginning of the tournament when facing U18 Indonesia.
As predicted, the representative of the Land of Ten Thousand Islands created a fast match and continuously put pressure with the defensive ability and flexible ball coordination of the setter.
U18 Vietnam started well and won 25-21 in the first set thanks to effective serves and sharp attacks. However, Indonesia quickly responded with a 25-21 victory in set 2, bringing the match back to the starting line.
The stalemate continued to be maintained in set 3. In decisive moments, coach Ngoc Hoa's students took advantage of the opportunity to take the lead and win 25-22. However, Indonesia once again proved their difficulty when winning 25-22 in set 4, forcing the two teams to enter the decisive set 5.
At the time of the greatest pressure, U18 Vietnam showed bravery. Quality serves, blocking ability and efficiency in attacking situations helped the team quickly create an advantage.
Maintaining focus until the final points, U18 Vietnam closed the decisive set with a 15-10 victory, thereby completing an emotional comeback after more than 2 hours of competition.
This is also the first time at this year's tournament that U18 Vietnam has to play up to 5 sets. However, this challenging semi-final match has shown the psychological maturity and competitive spirit of the young girls.
The 3-2 victory helped U18 Vietnam officially win the right to play in the final of the 2026 Southeast Asian U18 Women's Volleyball Championship. The opponent of coach Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa's team will be the winning team in the remaining semi-final match between U18 Thailand and U18 Philippines.
