FIVB Championship recap: Brazil stays undefeated, Germany beats the Netherlands
The second round of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Women's Volleyball World Championship came to an end on Wednesday. Of the 16 teams that earned berths in the second round 12 will
advance, and only four will compete for the FIVB championship.
Brazil vs USA Pool F
Brazil remained undefeated and finished in first place in Pool F after a 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23) victory over the United States. The US dropped to 5-2, but finished in second place. Both teams
will compete for the FIVB Championships in the third round.
Jaqueline Carvalho led Brazil with 18 points, but Sheilla Castro and Natalia Pereira each had 15 and Thaisa Menezes had 14. Brazil finished the second round without one player in the tournament’s top 10
in scoring. Destinee Hooker led the Americans with 20 points.
The U.S. led Brazil in the first set 16-15, but couldn’t hold them off as Brazil ended up winning the set 25-19. The Americans were able to tie the match up at 1-1 with a 26-24 victory in the second set,
but Brazil dominated the US in the third set before clinching the match in a close fourth set.
“Brazil was very strong,” said the US coach, Hugh McCutcheon. “We were good in some phases but lacked consistency. We need to be a better team. Our bench did a good job today.”
Germany vs Netherlands Pool F
Germany improved to 4-3 and earned third spot in Pool F with a 3-1 (25-12, 25-14, 19-25, 27-25) victory over the Netherlands. The Dutch fell to 2-5 and took sixth place in the Pool. Germany will play for
fifth place in the semi-finals, and the Dutch will play for ninth.
Margareta Kozuch led Germany with 25 points, and Manon Flier topped Dutch scorers with 19 points.
Germany didn’t give the Netherlands much of a chance in either of the first two sets. They took an early 11-0 lead in the second set before winning it 25-14 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Dutch battled
back in the third set winning 25-19 before losing the final set in extra points 27-25. The Netherlands had a 25-24 lead in that fourth set, but three straight points by Germany gave them the set and the match.
“I think our problem today was serving and receiving in the first two sets,” said the Netherlands’ coach, Avital Selinger. “We started to play better in the third set and then it became a high-level match.
However, it was too little, too late.”
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