Germany-Israel
The first match of the day starred Germany – debuting in the tournament – and Israel. The start was very close with Germany going up 8:6 and 16:14 at the first and second technical time-out of the opening set. Germany made some mistakes, especially from the serving line, helping Israel keep the score close. However, the Israelis did not really exploit such opportunity as their mistakes in reception and blocking made it impossible to catch up in the score. Their head coach, Jacob Herchko, stopped the game as his side was trailing 17:19 but this did not help with Germany that cashed the provisional 1:0 at 25-20.
With Germany struggling in reception, Israel got an early lead in the second set also by showing different combinations in attack that somehow surprised Germany’s defense system. Though the guys from Germany played with glowing hearts, they were not able to turn the score around and still trailed by two points at the second technical time-out. Friederich Nagel showed some great actions for Germany but still Israel could go for the provisional 1:1 (25.23).
Things changed completely in the third set where Germany stormed out to an 8:2 lead with some phenomenal serving by Yannick Harms “destroying” Israel’s defense line. Harms continue to stand behind the serving line up to the moment Germany claimed their nineteenth point in the set which was eventually cashed with the terrific score of 25-5.
After such disastrous showing, Israel was nevertheless able to fight back in set 4 going up by as many as five points before Germany leveled the score at 11. A real fight unfolded after the second technical time-out with both teams displaying their best weapons, with good blocks, precise spikes and strong serving. Though Germany looked in a good position to finish it off, Israel was able to even the score at 25 all and eventually called for the tie-break after scoring the next couple of rallies (27-25).
Germany got off to a flying start in the tie-break going up by four points but Israel did not surrender and almost restored the balance. However, Germany did not dissipate any other opportunity to win their first game in Sofia and sealed the deal at 15-13 for a 3:2 win.
To read more news from this competition click on 2013 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship – European Qualification.
Find the full stats from this game on Statistics.
