Olympic Champions Ludwig/Walkenhorst Advance To Round Of 16

2017 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – VIENNA

• July 28 to August 6
• Vienna Centre Court, Vienna, Austria
• Co-ed
• Championships
• Event Site
• Schedule
• Facts & Figures
• Watch on YouTube

The reigning 2016 Olympic champions flew through Lucky Loser winners Fan Wang/Yuan Yue of China 2-0, (21-19, 21-14). The win will advance the German’s to the Round of 16 while the Chinese crew has been eliminated from the tournament.

Ludwig expressed after the match that this was not her and Walkenhorst best match, but that defensively they are able to put a ton of pressure on their opponents. The two teams were fairly even in statistics, though the Germans had the slight edge helping them to win.

• Match Stats

The Chinese serve was extremely inconsistent in the match, going long or wide off the sidelines, with seven missed opportunities. On the attack, they were unable to consistently put the ball down, with Wang being blocked by Walkenhorst in the middle of the net six times as well as missing three attacks out the side of the court and back line. Yue was more efficient, though it did not make much of an impact for the Chinese team.

The serve from the Germans went primarily to Wang, which proved to be an effective strategy, as she struggled to find her way around the block. Walkenhorst got a kill almost every time she attacked the ball, while Ludwig took the majority of the swings, using strong shots cross court or down the line to defeat the Chinese.

Up next for the Germans is a young American team, Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes in the Round of 16 on August 3.