FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championships Recap: Tuesday's Pool B matches
Tuesday’s Pool B matches in the Internationale de Volleyball Women’s Volleyball World Championship in Japan went far in determining which four teams will advance to the second round, but not their order
of finish.
Pool B
Brazil vs Puerto Rico
Brazil was able to clinch their spot in the second round with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-20) victory over Puerto Rico. Brazil improved their record to 4-0 while Puerto Rico fell to 1-3.
Natalia Pereira led the Brazilian team with 15 points, and Aurea Cruz led Puerto Rico with 11.
Despite the win, the Brazilians weren’t happy with their efforts after making a number of mistakes, which allowed Puerto Rico to stay close.
“I don’t like so much this match,” said Brazil coach, Jose Guimaraes. “I think we played a bad match today. We made many mistakes. We have to prepare against Italy. I asked for a time-out at 11-10, because
I didn’t like the concentration of my team at that moment.”
Brazil will play Italy in the final match of the first round, the winner of which will earn top spot in Pool B. Puerto Rico will face the Netherlands, but even with a win they won’t be able to score enough
points to beat the Dutch, or the Czechs should they lose to Kenya, in the tie-breaker.
Netherlands vs Kenya
Kenya fell to 0-4 while the Netherlands improved to 2-2 with a 3-0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-11) victory. Kenya had little opportunity to win against a powerful Dutch squad, and cannot advance to the second round.
Manon Flier led the Dutch team with 13 points, and Kenya finished the match with Esther Mwombe and Diana Khisa leading their scoring with only four points apiece.
“For me, the main goal is to, one, maintain rhythm, and two, give opportunities for other players to play,” said the Netherlands’ coach, Avital Selinger. “It seems maybe that Kenya could not do much well
today, but much has to do with the quality of our play. It was our goal to maintain our own high-level of execution.”
Czech Republic vs Italy
The Czech Republic rallied while down by two sets to earn a 3-2 (25-27, 27-29, 25-23, 25-22, 17-15) upset victory against Italy. Italy saw their record fall to 3-1, but will still advance to the second
round, while the Czech Republic improved to 2-2.
Aneta Havlickova scored a huge 34 points to lead the Czech Republic, and Serena Ortolani led the Italian team with 28 points.
“Our team played so well during the first two sets,” said Italian coach, Massimo Barbolini. “After that, we made a lot of mistakes. The Czech team played better than us, so their victory is a correct result.
They are good at blocking, and in some moments, we needed to pay attention or be patient. But immediately, we could not react properly. That’s why we lost this game.”
The Czechs will play Kenya on Wednesday. They’re tied for third in the Pool with the Netherlands at 2-2, but the Dutch are ahead in the points tie-breaker.
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