Errors Key as Netherlands, China Win in Five Sets in Pool 17

  0 Wendy Mayer | June 12th, 2018 | Asian Volleyball, European volleyball, FIVB Nations League - Women, International Volleyball, News

2018 FIVB MEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE – WEEK 5/POOL 17

  • June 12th-June 14th, 2018
  • Stuttgart, Germany | Porsche-Arena (Capacity: 6,181)
  • Time Zone: Central European Summer Time (UTC + 2)
  • World Rankings: #1 China, #8 Netherlands, #12 Turkey, #13 Germany
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  • Schedule/Results
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
12 Jun 17:30 Turkey  2–3  Netherlands 11–25 29–31 25–16 25–20 10–15 100–107
12 Jun 20:30 Germany  2–3  China 25–20 27–25 17–25 23–25 8–15 100–110

Netherlands def. Turkey 3-2

  • Netherlands defeated Turkey 25-11, 31-29, 16-25, 20-25, 15-10
  • Netherlands moved to 10-3 (28 points); Turkey moved to 9-4 (29 points)

Thirty-seven errors and 16 Dutch blocks secured the Netherlands a five-set win over Turkey on Tuesday.

The Turkish side led 61-45 in kills, but were done in by 37 errors as well as a 16-9 deficit in blocks and 9-8 margin in aces. The Dutch limited their miscues to 22 for the match.

The Netherlands’ top scorer Lonneke Sloetjes tacked on a match-high 24 points on team highs of 17 kills, four blocks and three aces. Anne Buijs (15), Maret Balkestein-Grothues (11) and Nicole Koolhaas (9) followed. Buijs turned in 11 kills, three blocks and an ace, while Balkestein-Grothues added seven putaways, three blocks and an ace. Koolhaas also chipped in three blocks and two aces to go with four kills. Twelve players saw the court in the match with nine scoring.

Hande Baladin paced Turkey in the match, tallying 17 points (15 kills, 1 block, 1 ace) despite missing the first set and playing as a substitute in Set 2. Meliha Ismailoglu (15), Eda Erdem Dundar (13) and Meryem Boz (10) also notched double-digit point tallies. Ismailoglu put down 11 kills and served up a team-high three aces and a block. Boz’s 10 points all came on kills as she started sets 1, 2 and 5. Erdem Dundar chimed in with nine kills, a team-best three blocks and an ace. Zehra Gunes played just the first two sets, with six points (3 blocks, 2 kills, 1 ace). Thirteen different players saw action in the match, with 11 scoring at least one point. Starting setter Gamze Alikaya did not enter the match full time until Set 3.

Turkey rallied from two sets down to send the match to a fifth-set, but came up just short in the finale. After a tie at 8-all, a Sloetjes kill and a hitting error by Boz gave the Dutch the edge the needed en route to a 15-10 win. Belien supplied the final nail.

The Netherlands rolled to a 10-3 lead in Set 1 and saw the advantage swell to 16-4 as Koolhaas, Sloetjes and Buijs starred. Buijs closed out the 25-11 win as Turkey gave away six points on miscues.

The Dutch grabbed an 8-3 advantage in Set 2, but Turkey gained its footing when Alikaya came in at setter. The Turkish side earned the first set point try on an Ebrar Karkurt kill. The Netherlands thwarted two Turkish set-point attempts, before earning six of its own en route to a 31-29 win. Sloetjes gave the Dutch the 2-0 match lead.

Turkey came out with renewed strength in Set 3, going up 10-5. Baladin, Erdem Dundar and Gunes found their form and guided the team to a 25-16 win.

Set 4 saw the Dutch take control early at 6-1. Turkey countered late, going up 20-17 on a Boz kill and Ismailoglu ace. Baladin gave the Turkish side hope, capping the set at 25-20.

 

China def. Germany 3-2

  • China defeated Germany 20-25, 25-27, 25-17, 25-23, 15-8
  • China moved to 7-6 (22 points); Germany moved to 5-8 (15 points)

Thirty-seven errors were just two much for Germany to overcome as it let a 2-0 lead slip away into a five-set loss on Tuesday.

Germany outdid China in kills (66-54) and aces (10-3), while the Chinese boasted a 14-8 edge in blocks and 21 extra points on errors (37-16).

A balanced attack guided the Chinese with Xiangyu Gong (12), Yingying Li (12), Fang Duan (12) and Xinyue Yuan (11) leading the way with double-digit scoring tallies. Li managed a team-best 12 kills while starting just the final two sets, as Gong and Duan added 11 apiece. Yuan put down seven kills and added a team-high four blocks. Mingyuan Hu chipped in three blocks.

With Louisa Lippmann sitting the match out, Kimberly Drewniok led the Germans with 23 points followed by Jennifer Geerties (19) and Maren Fromm (13). Drewniok downed a match-high 19 kills and added two blocks and two aces, while Geerties added 17 putaways and Fromm chipped in 11. Fromm also served up two aces, while Denise Hanke came through with a team-best four perfect serves. The team played 12 of its 14 players, save Lippmann and Ivana Vanjak.

Momentum was on China’s side in Set 5 after the team rallied from down 2-0 to force the tiebreak. A block by Hu made it 5-3 China and a putaway by Yuan pushed the Chinese lead to four en route to a 15-8 win.

China went up 14-9 in Set 1, but Germany rode the home crowd and a serving run from Hanke, including three aces, to an 18-17 advantage. Chinese miscues aided the Germans down the stretch in a 25-20 win.

After falling behind 12-7 in Set 2, Germany took advantage of China’s error-riddled attack and Geerties came to life as the home side swiped a 27-25 victory.

With No. 1 China facing possible defeat, the team kicked off Set 3 with a 4-0 run and cruised to a 25-17 win with help from a strong blocking effort.

The Chinese went ahead 7-3 in Set 4, but Germany was a force at the net and boasted a 23-22 lead late. China rallied for three straight points, including a hitting error by Geerties which capped the 25-23 win and brought on the decisive fifth set.

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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.

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