THE Philippine women’s volleyball team’s bid for a podium finish vanished after bowing to the tall Kazakhstan squad, 29-27, 24-26, 23-25, 19-25, in the Pool B at the 20th Asian Games on Wednesday at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium. Alas Pilipinas will be relegated to the classification round for 9th to 12th places as only the top two teams of each of the four groups will advance to the next round. Alas Pilipinas played well in the opening set and erased a 24-22 lead by Kazakhstan to claim an early 1-0 lead behind the solid plays by Eya Laure and Angel Canino. The Filipinos found themselves in the same scenario in the second and third frames where they kept the scores close with a chance to steal victory in the endgame. This time, the Kazakhs used their height to full advantage as they survived both rallies for a 2-1 advantage.   Alas Pilipinas, however, failed to sustain its intensity and tenacity in the fourth set as Kazakhstan pulled away with a 22-14 lead. Thea Gagate tried to lead a fightback with a kill block even as Kazakhstan made back-to-back errors that kept the Philippines alive. Canino converted a down-the-line hit to cut Kazakhstan’s lead down to 23-18. Bella Belen, however, made a costly attack error that sent Kazakhstan to match point advantage, 24-18, but Solomon continued to fight with a monster block, 24-19. Kristina Belova ended the Philippines’ hopes to advancing as she slammed the victory-clinching point. Canino scored a game-high performance of 24 points on 20 attacks, two aces and two blocks for the Philippines, while Solomon added 20 points. Tatyana Nikitina churned out nine 19 points for Kazakhstan as Zhanna Syroyeshkina backed her up with 17 points. Kazakhstan is ranked 42nd in the FIVB world rankings while the Philippines is No. 56. Kazakhstan will next face defending champion China while the Philippines begins its classification round games on Sunday.  Alas Pilipinas opened its bid here with an 18-25, 22-25, 25-8 setback to China last Wednesday. The Philippine women’s volleyball team has yet to win a medal in the Asian Games but finished at fourth place in 1962 and 1966.