2018 FIVB WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE – WEEK 2/POOL 7
- May 22-24, 2018
- Macau Forum | Macau, China (Capacity: 4,000)
- Time Zone: UTC +08:00
- World Rankings: #1 China, #3 Serbia, #16 Thailand, #22 Poland
- Preview
- Schedule/Results
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 May | 16:30 | Thailand  |
1–3 |  Serbia |
18–25 | 23–25 | 25–19 | 19–25 | 85–94 | P2 P3 | |
| 22 May | 20:00 | China  |
2–3 |  Poland |
25–18 | 17–25 | 18–25 | 25–22 | 12–15 | 97–105 | P2 P3 |
| 23 May | 17:30 | Poland |
1–3 | Serbia |
25–20 | 25–27 | 24–26 | 15–25 | 89–98 | P2 P3 | |
| 23 May | 20:00 | China |
3–1 | Thailand |
25–23 | 26–24 | 22–25 | 25–17 | 98–89 | P2 P3 | |
| 24 May | 17:30 | Poland |
2–3 | Thailand |
22–25 | 25–21 | 23–25 | 25–21 | 14–16 | 109–108 | P2 P3 |
| 24 May | 20:00 | China |
1–3 | Serbia |
25–21 | 23–25 | 21–25 | 17–25 | 86–96 |
Thailand def. Poland 3-2
- Thailand defeated Poland 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-14
- Thailand moved to 2-4 (5 points); Poland moved to 2-4 (5 points)
Malwina Smarzek recorded a tournament best 38 points for Poland, but it was the Thailand team that went home happy with a close five-set win on Thursday.
Poland outblocked Thailand 17-10, but committed three more errors (20-17) in the match. Both teams registered 70 kills and six aces.
Chatchu-On Moksri answered Smarzek with 27 points for Thailand, including 24 kills and three aces, and four other Thai players registered double-digit scoring efforts. Ajcharaporn Kongyot (16), Pimpichaya Kokram (14), Pleumjit Thinkaow (12) and Hattaya Bamrungsuk (11) rounded out the group. Kongyot notched 14 kills and two blocks, while Kokram chipped in 13 putaways. Thinkaow put up a team-best ofur blocks, while Bamrunsuk added three.
Smarzek’s 38 points came on 33 kills, four blocks and an ace. Natalie Medrzyk added 14 points, including 12 kills, while captain Agnieszka Kakolewska turned in 13 points (9 kills, 4 blocks). Marlena Plesnierowicz served up three of the team’s six aces.
Smarzek came through for the Polish side at seemingly every turn, including the game-winner in Set 4, but in tiebreak, the Thai team built an 11-9 edge and held on for the win.
Here are some post-match reactions.
Thailand coach Danai Sriwacharamaytakul: “The Poland players are very strong in attack and blocking, but my players played to our best capabilities to overcome them. We hope to keep improving and hopefully we will get more positive results in the Volleyball Nations League and also do well at the Asian Games.”
Thailand captain Pleumjit Thinkaow: “It was a hard game for us against Poland today. Their players are tall and masters in blocking. We kept our style of play throughout and corrected our mistakes from previous games and I am really delighted with the win.”
Poland captain Agnieszka Kakolewska: “We feel a bit deflated after getting ourselves motivated for the match and working so hard for five sets. We made some mistakes at crucial times which led to our loss.”
Serbia def. China 3-1
- Serbia defeated China 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17
- Serbia moved to 5-1 (15 points); China moved to 3-3 (10 points)
China just did not have the horses to compete with No. 3 Serbia on Thursday, trailing by 21 kills, four blocks and two aces, although errors kept them in the four-set match.
Serbia boasted a 60-39 lead in kills, 11-7 advantage in blocks and 10-8 edge in aces. All of that helped the Serbs overcome 32 miscues in the match, to just 13 for China.
Tijana Boskovic racked up 32 points, with 25 kills, a team-high five blocks and two aces, to pace Serbia. Brankica Mihajlovic followed with 15 points (13 kills, 2 aces), while five other players got in on the offensive action. Milena Rasic was next on the team with eight putaways, while Jovana Stevanovic and Ana Antonijevic each served up two aces.
Xiangyu Gong (13) and Xiatong Liu (12) led the scoring for China, notching 11 and nine kills respectively. Liu also chipped in three aces. Yuanyuan Wang was limited to just nine points (4 kills, 4 blocks, 1 ace), while Fang Duan added eight points, all on kills. Head coach Lang Ping went deep into his roster, playing all 14 available players, although rising star Li Yingying did not play until the final stanza.
Leave a Reply