Montreux, Switzerland, May 29, 2015 – The Netherlands continue their winning streak by defeating the Dominican Republic in three sets (25-14, 26-24, 25-22).
Best scorers of the game were Manon Nummerdor-Flier with 11 scores for the Netherland, and Gina Altagracia Mambru Casilla who gained fife scores for her team from the Dominican Republic.
With the „Oranjes“ already being qualified fort he semi-finals and the Dominican Republic on bottom rank of Pool A - and therefore with no chance left to make it the semi-finals - this game didn’t have any influence on the rankings. However, the Dutch were eager to show their tempting form and the “Reinas del Caribe” wanted to a win to gain back some confidence with a first win at the Montreux Volley Masters 2015.
Like yesterday, the Netherlands showed some impressive serving skills. The Dominican routinier Prisilla Rivera Brens and Libera Brenda Castillo weren’t able to handle the powerful serves played by the Dutch Celeste Plak. It was already 7-16 in the first set and the Dutch players still showed no mercy. They arranged their tall blocks and prevented nearly every attacks coming form the Dominican Republic. Like in their games before, the Dominicans played either top or flop. The Netherlands on the other hand continued to show a constant performance and won set one outright with 14-25.
In set two, the “Reinas” stopped the easy game for the Netherlands. Mambru and Rivera didn’t have the best of days but their teammates were now able to score the points for the Dominican Republic. The Netherlands couldn’t go through with their strong serves - to many unforced errors occurred. After the “Reinas” won the upper hand in the now gripping game, Manon Nummerdor-Filer and Judith Pieterson brought her team back by scoring the crucial points.
After denying the Dutch three sett points, the “Reinas” managed to equalize (24-24). Now, the Reinas gave it all they had. Lisvel Elisa Eve Majia even tripped over her teammate Libera Brenda Castiollo in order to bring the ball back in the game. But she wasn’t successful and the Reinas lost short with 24-26.
At the beginning of set three, Yvon Belien was again able to throw the Dominicans off track with nicely played serves, and middle blocker Nicole Koolhaas blocked the Dominican attacks straight into the ground. After the first technical timeout (6-8 for the Netherlands), Marianne Fersola Norberto spiked her attack in the far angle and then equalized the game score with a direct serve point. Again, no team was able to take the lead. The Netherland showed a concentrated and controlled game, whereas the Reinas fought passionately - but not always lucky. Over all, the many serving errors prevented them to break away from the Netherlands. Again, the crowed got to see a closed set finish. With two attacks from the outside, Celeste Plak scored two times in a row and made sure her team won also set three with 22-25.
We are eager to see, if the Netherland is able to continue their winning streak in the semi-finals tomorrow, Saturday. The Dominican Republic will now be fighting to earn the fifth rank at the Montreux Volley Masters 2015.