Dutch crash Puerto Ricans dreams of playing in the second round of FIVB Championship
The first round of the FIVB Women’s World Championship closed off yesterday (Wednesday 3rd November, 2010). The successful teams qualified for the second round of the championship, while the low performance squads got eliminated from the championship.
The Netherlands is one of the qualifiers of second round. They defeated Puerto Rico in the last match of first round on 3rd November, 2010. The Dutch ‘force’ posted 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, and 25-16) victory over Puerto Rican side and finished with an
overall win/loss ratio of 3-2 in Pool B of 2010 FIVB Women’s World Championship.
The Hamamatsu Sports Arena in Japanese city Hamamatsu hosted the wonderful match. Around 1,781 fans witnessed the match and cheered happy slogans to add another flavour in the match. The Dutch team played with great style and off balance Puerto Rico with
better attack and defence. The Netherlands’ team produced wonderful momentum in game and paved their way to success with the help of explosive leapers and spikers. The Dutch provided great damage to Puerto Rico and diminished their chances to play in the second
round of the tournament.
Opening Set
The Dutch side opened the match with convincing serves. Maret Grothues was on serve, who floated the ball in air and converted it into a speed bomb. The early points of the game were posted by Dutch team as left-handed Grothues put her magic in the game.
Dutch team took a lead of 5-0 and signalled their victory in the match. However, Puerto Rico brought in Karina Ocasio who promptly earned three points by throwing the ball in perfect gaps. The Dutch players hit back and raised the score by producing deadly
spikes. They attacked Puerto Rico from different angles and took the score to 14-4.
The strong lead of Netherlands created problem for Puerto Rico and drafted them under tons of pressure. Puerto Rican defenders couldn’t put up with the hard-hitting of Dutch team and failed to chase the score. The Netherlands’ hitters continued with success
and stretched the gap of points to 18-7. Manon Flier of Netherlands simply rocked the podium with superb shots. Puerto Rico had no chance to save the set and they gave way to Dutch dominance at 25-12.
Second set
The second set saw no improvement in Puerto Rico’s team. They were down with low score on account of power-lacking shots, while Dutch side attained more power in second set. Ingrid Visser and Laura Djikema formed a good combination and picked up a lead of
8-3 for Netherlands. The incredible show of Dutch players earned huge applause from the crowd. On the other hand, Puerto Rico relied on Aurea Cruz but she couldn’t stand the powerful line-shots by Visser and Maret. The Dutch team dominated the whole scene
and didn’t allow Puerto Ricans to gain better status. The court-pounding spikes worked for Dutch squad and they scored six points in a row. They extended their lead to 18-6 and covered the length of second set with the help of strong spikes. Puerto Rico acknowledged
the second set defeat at 13-25.
Third set
After two-set victory, Netherlands could sense the smell of victory. Puerto seemed helpless and lost energy, while Dutch smashed a lead of 8-1 in the early few minutes of the game. Puerto Rico totally failed in the hands of Dutch players. Grothues and Visser
continued adding points in Netherlands’ score and took the score to 13-3. Puerto Rico struggled to chase the score but lagged behind as Netherlands jumped on 18-9. The Dutch players hit nice shots and touched the finished at 25-16. Netherlands won the match
and advanced to the second round of the Women’s World Championship in Nagoya, Japan.
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