Liliane Maestrini-Angela Vieira continue with success in the qualifying round of Rome Grand Slam
The Brazilian female duo of Liliane Maestrini and Angela Vieira, which claimed a berth in Qualification Tournament via Country Quota Playoffs, continued with success in the second stage of the tournament.
They played two matches in the qualifying round on Wednesday and ended with a perfect 2-0 record. Success in the Qualification Tournament enabled them to advance to the Main Draw of the 2012 SWATCH FIVB Rome Grand Slam.
In the first fixture of the day, they took on Switzerland’s Romana Kayser and Joana Heidrich. The Brazilian duo swept the feet of Swiss counterparts and did not face much difficult to win the match. The powerful spikes of Lili devastated the opponents, while
solid blocking of Vieira restricted them to a low score. The opening set of the match came to an end at 21-13.
After dropping the first set, Swiss pair played comparatively better in the following frame. They hit the ball with power and directed their shots in rare gaps and corners. The improved attack strategy enabled the Kayser- Heidrich to score good points in
the second set. They exhibited better performance but still failed to overcome the resilient rivals and lost second set by trailing behind with three points, 18-21. Therefore, Brazilian team pulled off success in the match, 2-0.
Speaking of the first match, Lili said, “The first match was always going to be tough because it was against another Brazilian team and it was a hard match. The second and third matches were against two good teams, a Swiss and a German team, so we are really
proud with how we worked and we are really happy to play tomorrow.”
After beating the Swiss duo, Brazilian musketeers clashed with German pair, which consisted of Geeske Banck and Kira Walkenhorst. Charged-up Lili and Vieira jumped out of the gate and promptly picked lead in the first set. Lili took bigger run ups and supplied
plenty of power to her serves. Likewise, Vieira made good use of her hands and produced unstoppable shots. They dragged the Germans under pressure and seized first-set, 21-16.
Second set also came successful for Brazilians as they proved to be better in every aspect of the game. The Germans committed too many errors and suffered the set-back. The dropped second set 14-21 and lost the match in straight sets.
Lili stated, “We have just played in Moscow, so we have played a lot of days in a row. Then we came here without having a break, but that’s ok because we will play tomorrow. Now we will have a rest and do our best tomorrow.”
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