News

Volleyball 27/05/2014

USA overcome nerves to take match against Germany at Montreux Volley Masters

Montreux, Switzerland, May 27, 2014 - The USA have
won their opening game over Germany 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21).

Rachel Adams was the lead scorer for the US team
while Margareta Kozuch led the German side with 18 points.

An exciting game awaited spectators
at the 29th Montreux Volley Masters as Germany faced Olympic silver medallist, USA.

As expected, the game
between the two teams remained tied, with both teams getting kills on account
of their good side-out games.

Germany took advantage of their strong service. The
Americans on the other hand couldn’t handle this pressure and fell behind, but
never with more than four points. But it wasn’t enough and the Germans didn’t
give away their early lead winning the first set 25-22.

Nevertheless, the world’s number 2 didn’t lose
their nerve. On account of Lauren Paolini’s good serves and setter Courtney
Thompson’s strong defence, the US were able to come back into the game. The Germans couldn’t take
advantage of their attacking game as the US started to read their opponent’s
game better. Karch Kiraly’s players took the lead in the important stage of the
game and won the second set 25-20 as a consequence.

The third set was marked by
long rallies, without either team taking a clear lead, although both gave their
best and fought for every ball. The US, however, played a clever game at the
end of the third set winning it 25-23 after taking advantage of a break in Germany‘s
defence.

The Americans dominated the
game in the beginning of the fourth set, while the Germans started to struggle
and couldn’t handle the pressure and fell behind 9-15.

In order to get his players
to play a more concentrated game, Giovanni
Guidetti changed the game plan of his team. As a consequence, the Germans
fought their way back to tie the game at 18-18. While everyone believed the
Germans could turn around their luck, Karch Kiraly’s players eventually found their
rhythm. The Olympic silver medallists
increased their lead again to win the set 25-21.

Kimberly Hill who scored 16 points was happy about
the important opening victory saying, “It was a hard game against the Germans
today. We were a little bit
nervous in the first set – however, that’s always like this when we play our
first game of the season together.”

The 24 years old
wing-spiker even revealed the secret preparation method for the opening game.
“We took a bath in the cold Lake Geneva to cool down yesterday. And as it seems
it worked.”

Margareta Kozuch, on the
other hand, was sad about the missed opportunity in the fourth set. “It was
such a tied game,“ she said.“We had our opportunities, but couldn’t capitalise
on them. We fought our way back into the game as a team in the fourth set and
could even tie the score, but the Americans didn’t give up at this important
moment.”

And Kimberly Hill knows why
her team found their rhythm: “I think it’s our “American national team
mentality”. Every time we fall behind, we look into each other’s eye and
encourage us as team to get back.”

Print this Page

News

All the News