Dominican Republic, Brazil, Serbia Sweep Pool D Action

  0 Wendy Mayer | October 03rd, 2018 | African Volleyball, Brazilian Volleyball, European volleyball, International Volleyball, News, Previews & Recaps, South American Volleyball

2018 FIVB Women’s World Championships – Preliminary Pool D

  • Sept. 29 – Oct. 4, 2018
  • Hamamatsu Arena; Hamamatsu, Japan
  • Teams: #3 Serbia, #4 Brazil, #9 Dominican Republic, #13 Puerto Rico, #21 Kazakhstan, Kenya
  • Schedule

Brazil secured its spot in the second round, while Kazakhstan was eliminated in Pool D on Wednesday. All three matches were decided in sweeps.

The third and fourth spots in the group belong to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico at 2-2 (6 points), but Kenya (1-3, 3 points) still has a chance with a Thursday meeting looming with the DR.

Dominican Republic def. Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-20)

“The Dominican Republic had a strong game in all facets today,” Puerto Rican captain Natalia Valentin said. “We were our own worst enemy.”

An 11-block effort helped lift the Dominican Republic to the victory. The DR led 11-5 in stuffs, 39-35 in kills and earned six extra points off Puerto Rican miscues (22-16). Each team served up three aces.

Yonkaira Pena Isabel (15), Bethania De La Cruz (15) and Prisilla Rivera Brens (13) posted double-digit point tallies to lead the Dominicans. De La Cruz downed a team-best 13 kills, while Pena Isabel and Rivera chipped in 12 apiece. Pena Isabel put up a team-leading three blocks alongside Annerys Vargas Valdez, while De La Cruz and Lisvel Mejia added two apiece. Mejia served up all three of the team’s aces.

Daly Santana notched 10 points for Puerto Rico on nine kills and a block. Stephanie Enright and Karina Ocasio added seven points apiece. Neira Ortiz tacked on six points (3 blocks, 2 aces, 1 kill) despite starting just Set 3. Eleven players saw time in the match, with just four starting all three sets.

The Dominican Republic built a three-point edge midway through Set 1 at 14-11 and held on for a 25-22 victory.

The DR boasted a 16-10 lead at the second technical timeout in Set 2 and poured it on from then en route to a 25-17 victory.

Puerto Rico grabbed a 9-6 advantage in Set 3, but the Dominicans countered with a 6-2 run to go up 12-11. The team pulled away from there to take the set 25-20 and the match.

“We are happy to get the win and the three points,” DR coach Marcos Kwiek said. “Puerto Rico played well. This was an important game for us. We knew we needed to concentrate because Puerto Rico knows us well. Our blocking was good in the center though are attacking was not. We attacked effectively on the wings. We will face strong teams in the second round.”

Serbia def. Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-13)

“We didn’t play with the energy and motivation we had two nights ago; I can’t say I’m satisfied with the effort,” Serbian coach Zoran Terzic said. “We need to have focus and concentration in every game. It is a long way until the final. It is important for us to focus game-by-game.”

Serbia dominated all facets of the game, but gave up 17 points on errors in the match. The Serbians nearly doubled their foes in kills (45-24) and outdid them 11-3 in blocks and 9-3 in aces.

Serbia utilized 13 of its 14 players in the match with 11 scoring. Milena Rasic led the way with 17 points (13 kills, 3 blocks and an ace) despite playing in just the first two stanzas. Tijana Boskovic (12), Bojana Milenkovic (10) and Brankica Mihaijlovic (8) followed. Boskovic downed 11 kills, while Milenkovic added nine putaways. Mihjlovic chipped in five kills, two aces and a bock. Jovana Stevanovic served up three aces.

Yana Petrenko led eight scorers for Kazakhstan with seven points on six kills and an ace. Yekaterina Zhdanova (6) and Natalya Akilova (5) added five kills apiece, while Zhdanova was one of three players with a block to her credit.

Kazakhstan owned a brief advantage in Set 1 at 12-11, before Serbia scored five in a row to turn the tables and pull away en route to a 25-18 win. Rasic piled up 11 points in the opening stanza.

The Kazakhs built a 10-6 lead in Set 2 with help from Serbian miscues, but the victors righted the ship with a 5-1 run to tie it up at 11. Another 5-1 run gave the Serbs a 21-16 lead and Mihajlovic closed out the stanza with a stuff.

After using a 4-0 run to start Set 3, the Serbians cruised to a 12-5 lead and on to the 25-13 win, clinching the sweep with a Stevanovic putaway.

“Serbia was very strong,” Kazakhstan captain Radmila Beresneva said. “It was a tough game. We played better today than before in the other matches.”

Brazil def. Kenya 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-16)

  • Brazil moves to 3-1 (9 points); Kenya falls to 1-3 (3 points)
  • Match Stats
  • P2 Stat Sheet
  • Attendance: 675
  • Highlights

“We got our confidence back today after the Serbia match where we defended poorly,” Brazilian captain Natalia Pereira said. “We changed players tonight and got the momentum form the start. Kenya has made a lot of progress. I admire them.”

Ten aces and 12 blocks helped Brazil overwhelm Kenya and nearly double the team’s points output.

Brazil outscored Kenya 75-39 in the match with help from a 10-0 lead in aces, a 12-5 advantage in blocks and a 35-23 edge in kills. The Brazilians also earned seven extra points on Kenyan miscues (18-11).

Pereira piled up a match-high 12 points in the final two sets on six kills, four aces and two blocks. Pereira posted seven points in Set 2 and five in Set 3. Tandara Caixeta tacked on 11 points in the first two sets with 10 putaways and an ace. Ana Carolina Da Silva added eight points with three kills, a team-best three blocks and two aces. Twelve players saw action in the match with 10 scoring.

Emmaculate Chemtai was the top scorer for Kenya, turning in nine points on seven kills and two blocks. Violet Makuto added six points with four putdowns and two blocks. Sharon Chepchumba chimed in with five kills in a substitute effort.

“We started well,” Kenyan captain Mercy Moim said. “Brazil is the best team in the world. We tried to control their serve, reception and attack. Our young players got some good experience in this match. We played our best. That’s what we did.”

Brazil pulled away midway through Set 1, going up by six at 14-8 on an ace by Da Silva. Kenya cut the margin to four at 16-12, but Brazil was too strong at the net, going on to a 25-13 win.

Kenyan miscues aided the Brazilians in a dominant Set 2, which saw the victors vault ahead 134 and carry on to a 25-10 win.

Brazil scored seven of the first eight points in Set 3 and led by seven at 14-7. Kenya fought back, but could not break through, eventually falling at 25-16 on a Rosamaria Montibeller putaway.

Matches Pts Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  Serbia 4 0 12 12 0 MAX 300 197 1.523
2  Brazil 3 1 9 9 3 3.000 285 215 1.326
3  Dominican Republic 2 2 6 6 6 1.000 266 265 1.004
4  Puerto Rico 2 2 6 6 6 1.000 253 267 0.948
5  Kenya 1 3 3 3 9 0.333 204 291 0.701
6  Kazakhstan 0 4 0 0 12 0.000 227 300 0.757
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
29 Sep 13:40 Puerto Rico  0–3  Brazil 25–27 12–25 7–25 44–77 P2 Report
29 Sep 16:10 Dominican Republic  0–3  Serbia 17–25 20–25 22–25 59–75 P2 Report
29 Sep 19:20 Kazakhstan  0–3  Kenya 23–25 22–25 21–25 66–75 P2 Report
30 Sep 13:40 Brazil  3–0  Dominican Republic 25–15 25–20 25–22 75–57 P2 Report
30 Sep 16:10 Kazakhstan  0–3  Puerto Rico 21–25 15–25 22–25 58–75 P2 Report
30 Sep 19:20 Kenya  0–3  Serbia 16–25 9–25 8–25 33–75 P2 Report
1 Oct 13:40 Dominican Republic  3–0  Kazakhstan 25–22 25–15 25–19 75–56 P2 Report
1 Oct 16:10 Puerto Rico  3–0  Kenya 25–20 25–22 25–15 75–57 P2 Report
1 Oct 19:20 Serbia  3–0  Brazil 25–21 25–18 25–19 75–58 P2 Report
3 Oct 13:40 Puerto Rico  0–3  Dominican Republic 22–25 17–25 20–25 59–75
3 Oct 16:10 Kazakhstan  0–3  Serbia 18–25 16–25 13–25 47–75
3 Oct 19:20 Kenya  0–3  Brazil 13–25 10–25 16–25 39–75

In This Story

Leave a Reply

avatar

About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

Read More »

Don't want to miss anything?

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates!