Malwina-Smarzek
Poland collected another three points in the 2019 Nations League and each one of them might be the crucial knowing that they belong to the group of four challengers. Poland came back from a set down to prevail over Bulgaria in Pool 8 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. The match could have been easily gone into tie-break if Bulgaria managed to preserve a 6-1 in the fourth set. Malwina Smarzek made a stunning display for Poland today by putting down 41 points (4 kill blocks) with an attack success rate of 53% (36-68). Thus, the opposite hitter broke her own single-game scoring record in the tournament of 39 points which she set last year against Thailand. Gergana Dimitrova scored 17 points for Bulgaria. Nasya Dimitrova set up 4 kill blocks.
Netherlands-vs-Brazil
The Netherlands had the crowd in their favor, but Brazil emerged victorious from the game that was stretched to five sets. Despite the fact that Gabriela Guimarães “Gabi“ was Brazil’s top scorer with 19 points today, a 19-year-old Tainara Santos was the key player for the winning team as her entry in the second set changed the course of the game. As much as eight players of “Seleção“ set up at least one kill blocks (19 in total). Marrit Jasper notched 16 points for the Dutch team, while Eline Timmerman made 6 kill blocks.
2019 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League, Week 2 – Day 1:
Pool 5 (Conegliano, Italy):
USA – Serbia 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-21)
Italy – Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-18, 27-25, 18-25, 25-20)
Pool 6 (Ankara, Turkey):
Russia – Germany 0-3 (14-25, 21-25, 20-25)
Turkey – Japan 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 14-25)
Pool 7 (Macau, China):
Belgium – South Korea 0-3 (15-25, 17-25, 21-25)
China – Thailand 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-9)
Pool 8 (Apeldoorn, Netherlands):
Bulgaria – Poland 1-3 (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17)
Netherlands – Brazil 2-3 (25-21, 28-30, 20-25, 25-18, 11-15)
