Germany hammers Czech Republic in quarter-final match: Volleyball Europe news
Germany posted 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) win over Czech Republic in the quarterfinal match of 2011 CEV European Women’s Volleyball Championship. The overcrowded SC Pionir hall in Belgrade, Serbia, hosted the influential match on Thursday, September 29. The
German ladies proved too good for their Czech counterparts, beating them in straight sets. With success against the Czechs, Germany qualified for the semi-final meeting with defending champions Italy on Saturday.
Top guns
Maren Brinker was the top contributor on German side as she recorded match-high 13 kills in the match. On the other side, the best player was Helena Havelkova who registered 13 points for Czech Republic.
Match overview
Czech players started out well and added quick points, which helped them, earn 2-point lead at the first technical timeout 8-6. German Angelina Grün showed great efficiency at reception and tackled some of the tricky shots with great skill. Gradually, Germany
got better in the game and pushed the opponent behind. German setter Kathleen Weiss seemed to be a little out of form but still the team managed to secure first set with 4-1 aces and 3-1 kills. The finals score of first set was 25-18.
In the second set, Germany picked up an early lead but Czech Republic bounced back bravely. They chased the score and created the tie at 13-all. Germans responded without wasting any time and retook the lead with a short burst volleys. They moved to 19-15,
while the Czech lagged behind. Christiane Fürst of Germany proved to be a great help for her team and recorded four block kills in the second set. Germany finally sealed a second set win by sending 25-20 on board.
Czech Republic’s chances of victory were squeezed but they did not give up the fight. They played with the best of their tactics and tried to overcome the power of their rivals. Both teams exchanged long rallies and turned it into a heated competition. In
the meantime, the game experienced many ups and downs but Germany enjoyed the lead for better time. Fürst and Grün led Germany to success in the third set and also to match victory at 3-0.
Post-match
Winning Coach Giovanni Guidetti was more than happy about the great team work of his players. He thanked them all and urged them to pay more attention on the defence. He hoped that Germany would do better against Italy in the next match.
“I think we showed some good skills tonight, we fought hard, but the opponent was better than us. We lost today, but we learned something from it. I’m not happy for losing tonight, but after all, we did learn from our mistakes. I wish Germany all the best
for the semi-finals.”
Said Czech Republic head coach Jiri Siller.
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