2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League – Week 2 / Pool 6
- May 22-24, 2018
- Suwon, South Korea
- Time Zone: UTC + 9; ET + 13 hours
- World Rankings: No. 5 Russia, No. 7 Italy, No. 10 South Korea, No. 13 Germany
- Preview
- Schedule/Results
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 May | 15:00 | Italy  |
0–3 |  Russia |
24–26 | 12–25 | 23–25 | 59–76 | P2 P3 | ||
| 22 May | 18:00 | South Korea  |
3–1 |  Germany |
23–25 | 26–24 | 25–16 | 25–16 | 99–81 | P2 P3 | |
| 23 May | 16:00 | Italy |
3–0 | Germany |
25–22 | 25–18 | 25–20 | 75–60 | P2 P3 | ||
| 23 May | 19:00 | South Korea |
3–0 | Russia |
25–19 | 25–14 | 25–17 | 75–50 | P2 P3 | ||
| 24 May | 16:00 | Germany |
1–3 | Russia |
25–19 | 21–25 | 15–25 | 23–25 | 84–94 | P2 P3 | |
| 24 May | 19:00 | South Korea |
0–3 | Italy |
17–25 | 21–25 | 21–25 | 59–75 |
Russia def. Germany 3-1
- Russia defeated Germany 19-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-23
- Russia moved to 4-2 (12 points); Germany moved to 1-5 (3 points)
A 16-6 lead in blocks helped Russia overcome a 26-point effort by Louisa Lippman in a four-set victory over Germany to wrap Pool 6 play on Thursday.
Irina Voronkova, Irina Fetisova and Ekaterina Efimova turned in four blocks apiece to lead the Russians at the net. Voronkova also poured in 15 kills, part of a team-leading 20 point effort. Ksennia Parubets followed with 16 points (14 kills) and Fetisova chipped in 11 points, adding seven putaways to her blocking tally. Daria Malygina also posted a double-digit scoring effort with 10 points, including eight terminations.
Lippman downed a match-high 25 kills and an ace, but it was not enough to lift the Germans to victory. Lena Stigrot and Marie Scholzel added 10 points apiece. Stigrot notched 10 kills, while Scholzel posted seven putaways and a team-leading two aces. Maren Fromm also recorded seven kills to aid the offense.
Germany was the aggressor in Set 1, following Lippman and Scholzel’s lead to a 25-19 win, despite being tied at 16 midway through. Russia took the early lead in Set 2 and carried the momentum through out the rest of the match, fighting off the feisty Germans in late rallies to wrap up Sets 2 and 4.
Here are some post-match reactions.
Russia coach Pankov Vadim said: “Team Germany have strong and good spirits. I would like to congratulate the great German players. Especially the young and new players showed good performances. They fought through every moment in every match. I wish Germany full success in their next matches.”
Germany coach Felix Koslowski said: “First of all, congratulations to Russia. They managed things really well after the first set. As my captain said, we put a lot of pressure on them with our serves and we played really well in block and defense. We attacked in the way we had planned. I was very happy about the performance of my team. They showed a totally different spirit today. Then we lost our rhythm especially when receiving. I must complement our opposite spiker Louisa Lippman. I think she played a really amazing match today. Especially her block and defense were very good. I was really surprised in a positive way that the playing style of Russia was not high and slow anymore. They were playing at a first tempo. I really enjoyed the playing style of Russia. I hope we don’t need to play them soon again.”
Germany captain Maren Fromm said: “In the first set we were able to play as we planned. We put a lot of pressure on the Russia team with our serves. And in the second set we managed to focus on defense but we had a lot of faults because of the high blocks from the Russian team, which was always their strength.”
Italy def. Korea 3-0
- Italy defeated Korea 25-17, 25-21, 25-21
- Italy moved to 2-4 (7 points); Korea moved to 4-2 (11 points)
A balanced offensive attack, led by Serena Ortolani and Miryam Fatime Sylla guided Italy to an upset of homestanding Korea on Thursday.
Ortolani notched a match-high 18 points with 16 kills and two aces, while Sylla added 17 points (15 kills, 2 blocks). Lucia Bosetti, new to the Italian roster on Week 2, came through with 14 points (11 kills, 2 aces, 1 block), while Marina Lubian chipped in nine points, including eight kills.
Only Yeon Koung Kim managed double-digit scoring for Korea, turning in 17 points with 15 kills and two blocks. Next in line on the scoresheet were Su Ji Kim (8 points, 6 kills, 2 aces) and Joengah Park (6 points, all kills).
Italy racked up 53 kills to Korea’s 37 and outserved its foe 5-2. The Italians also boasted a slight 5-4 edge in blocks.
Set 1 was a back and forth affair with Korea scoring six straight to take a brief lead, but, in the end, Italy was too much and Ortolani issued the final blow. The Koreans did not go away in Set 2, however, rallying to within one at 20-19, but again falling short. The teams were knotted at 12 midway through Set 3 before Ortolani and Sylla took over, guiding the Italians to victory.
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