Montreux, Switzerland, May 27, 2015 - After starting off the game with the willingness of continuing their winning streak at the Montreux Volley Masters (5 consecutive game won between this edition and the previous one), Germany got a ruthless wake up call from Turkey, that, after struggling during the first set, swept the "Blondes" away in the following three set (17-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-14).
Germany, winner of the last edition of the tournament that each year takes place at the Pierrier Sport Hall, started off on fire the first set, but could do nothing to stop the cold-blooded come back of Turkey, which after taking control of the game set a too fast pace for Germany to follow. Since the beginning of the game, both team showed an extreme fighting spirit; Germany lit up by yesterday win over Italy, and Turkey willing to prove its worth after last night's painful loss against Japan.
After a strong half of the first set, Turkey gradually lost its leading position making it easy for Germany to take the head of the game. Not being able to get out of rotation 6, the Turkish head coach Ferhat Akbas was forced to make a double change, in order to have more offensive options, but while Polen Uslupehlivan made 2 important kills, the team was not able to find the rhythm necessary to keep up with a Germany on fire.
The second technical timeout, on the score of 9-16, saw Germany taking a huge lead over a Turkey down in the dumps, which not only lost its focus but its energy too.
Many unnecessary errors on the Turkish side put the team in a very uncomfortable position, making it really hard for the team to close up the gap between them and the opponents.
Slowly finding the previously lost confidence, Turkey found itself leading the first half of the second set taking a break at the first technical timeout on the score of 8-4. But more cohesiveness, a great block, and couple of questionable referee's calls put Germany right back in the game, which stopped at the second technical time out on a score of 16-14.
Better overall defense, with a much more effective blocking, less unforced mistakes, and bigger smiles on the Turkish girls' faces, allowed Turkey to take the second set.
Showing an aggressiveness never revealed before, Turkey started off the third set on fire, forcing head Coach Pedullà to call a time-out on the score of 7-2. The increased pressure on the German blondes took away part of their confidence, affecting their effectiveness and precision, especially on serve-receive, allowing Turkey to take a huge lead in the second half of the set, which they defended till the end of the set.
Despite some sparkles of sharpness and some good plays on the German side, Turkey kept their extreme focus also during the fourth set that ended 25-14.
While Germany played with its typical composure and enthusiasm, always high in energy, never giving up even in the darkest moments of the game, the Turkish girls were able to finally find their pulse, and by reducing the errors to almost none, bettering their defense, both at the net by putting up some killer blocks, and on the back row never letting a ball hit the floor, were able to set a pace too fast for Germany to keep up.
Both on a record of 1-1, tomorrow Germany will face Japan at 16:30, while Turkey will be on the court versus Italy at 21.