Australia beats Sri Lanka in classification round by 3-0: Volleyball
Women’s national volleyball team from Australia outclassed Sri Lanka in straight sets on Monday, September 19. The two teams came together to prove their superiority in the classification round for 9th-13th place at the 16th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball
Championship. Australia seized its chances and walked away with match victory (25-13, 25-22, and 25-16).
Success enabled the Aussies to get hold of the top spot in Pool H. In the next run, the match against Indian team will put the Aussies to a test of skills on Wednesday, September 22.
The contribution of 13 valuable points from Rachel Rourke played a big part in Australia’s victory. Rourke was quick on attack and showed extreme effort in digging. The captain of Australian squad, Anna Maycock, added seven points, while Heike Jesen helped
the team with eight points. Sri Lankan team had the top-scorer of the match in the form of Captain Jayamaha Dinesha. She registered 14 points via fierce spikes and tricky bump-passes. Another Sri Lankan Somaratne Leena pitched out 12 points.
Australia was down with unsteady reception in the beginning but gradually improved. Rourke showed its attack power and put away unstoppable shots. The ball frequently landed on Sri Lankan side, while Australia led the scores with 8-4 at the first technical
timeout (FTT). The Aussie hitters came up with strong offensive attack and shattered opponent’ defence line. In the meantime, the middle blockers did an excellent job and restricted Sri Lanka to a low score. Sri Lankan scored nine points, while Australia moved
to 16. The Kangaroos easily managed to get the Sri Lankans off their back in first set at 25-13.
Australia continued with the same spirit and set the perfect tone for a brilliant play in second set. They picked up 8-4 lead in early few minutes and devastated Sri Lankans with powerful hits. Dinesha of Sri Lanka responded to Australia’s strike and hit
back strongly. She managed to deceive the Aussie blockers and directed off the ball in gaps. Nonetheless, the opponent still held stronger force and did not allow Sri Lankan to come up. A service error of Sri Lanka near the set points benefitted Australia
and they claimed second set, 25-22.
With the confidence of their first two wins, Australia came up with more force in third set. However, Sri Lanka remained hand in hand and returned many of their difficult shots. They trailed behind Australia with a narrow gap of two points 6-8 at the FTT
but evened the score at 11-all. Aussie women formed a better strategy and retook the control of game. They remained remarkably consistent and finished third set with 25-16 on board.
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