Algeria recovers from shock in African Nations Women’s Volleyball Tournament
The 13th Women’s Junior African Nations Volleyball Championship started off on Thursday, October 14 and volleyball action continued till Sunday, 18th October, 2010. The city of Tunis in Tunisia was the centre of activity, which facilitated
5 teams from Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire and Rwanda. The participating five countries played for a ticket in the 2011 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship. The tournament was scheduled to progress with two matches on each day.
In the first-day combats, Egypt clashed with Algeria, while home-team Tunisia battled out with Cote d’Ivoire. Egypt and Tunisia celebrated victories in the opening matches with brilliant run. Algeria couldn’t put up with Egyptian strike and lost the first
match in straight three sets. Egypt was a strong side and results were very much predictable. Likewise, Tunes were too heavy for the underdogs Cote d’Ivoire. Tunisia clean-swept Ivoirians with a score of 3-0 in first match.
Algeria vs. Cote d’Ivoire 3-0 (25-07, 25-06, and 25-09)
The losers of first-day of Women’s Junior African Nations Volleyball Championship were put-up together in a match on second day. Algeria faced Cote d’Ivoire on Friday, 15th October 2010. Algerian team performed in a methodical manner and achieved
success. The match against Cote d’Ivoire was a sort of a breather for the Algerian squad, as they got a chance to apply different strategies and experiment with them. They easily clinched victory over Cote d’Ivoire and recovered from the shock of defeat from
Egypt.
First Set
Algeria opened the match with simple passes and looked at the competitor to form a judgment. The Cote d’Ivoire side was a bunch of youngsters who were trying to get recognition in front of tough contenders. Algerian team started throwing perfect serves in
their court and created a strong impression in the game. The libero of Cote d’Ivoire misjudged a few early shots and provided an edge to the Algerian squad. Algeria’s team was quick to pick-up a lead and restricted opponents’ score to a low stake. The hitters
of Algeria were keen to smash the ball straight into Cote d’Ivoire’s court.
Algerian lead was maintained at the first technical timeout and situation remained unchanged at the second technical timeout. The Cote d’Ivoire side suffered a great set-back due to the bad ball reception. Algerian dominance overwhelmed the scene and they
kept on adding more points in their score. They achieved the set-point, while Cote d’Ivoire was stuck with only 7 points in hand. Algeria secured the first set by 25-7.
Second Set
The Algerian ladies enjoyed a great form against Cote d’Ivoire and they finally started to feel alive again. The success put them in a good rhythm to further move on. The second set also came successful for Algeria. The Cote d’Ivoire squad couldn’t create
a spark in the game and frequently missed the ball. Their game was full of bad serves and many un-forced mistakes. It created a perfect opportunity for Algeria to launch their authority over the Cote d’Ivoire.
Algerian players hit superb shots and earned points in short rallies. Cote d’Ivoire failed to break Algerian rule in the game and fell back. Algeria extended their lead by winning the second set at 25-6.
Third Set
Cote d’Ivoire was devastated after losing two straight sets. They stood firm in the court and tried to save their falling-reputation. The team tried hard in third set. They struggled to look for spaces, in order to score points. The young blood ran fast
in their veins and they hit serves with full might. Their efforts went futile as either the ball often dropped just on the line or it went too off in distance. The over-all score of Cote d’Ivoire improved in third set but it was not threat for Algeria anyway.
Third set finished at 25-9 and Algeria stood in the winners’ circle. Algeria pulled off their first victory in the championship.
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