Germany
The Czech girls fought heroically in the first set, but Germany managed to stay focused and literally hammered their opponents during the rest of the game. German opposite Lisa Izquierdo topped the scorers chart with 25 points. Germany started well prepared and was in front at the second technical time-out in set No. 1. However, the Czech girls fired back and finally took the set with the help of some sharp serves from middle-blocker Katerina Zemanova. But Germany stayed cool. As from the second set, the Germans were the dominant team on the court. As a result, the Czechs couldn’t hold the pace and Germany made the scoreboard moving in their favor (25-16). The team of Han Abbing continued their run with an 8-0 (!) lead in the beginning of the third set. Czech head coach Stanislav Mitac called his ladies several times off court, but it didn’t help. Serving powerfully, German setter Magdalena Gryka put a lot of pressure on the Czech passers. As a consequence, the Czech Republic didn’t find a way to stop the dominant German squad (25-12). Things didn’t change in the fourth set with Germany pulling through (25-18).
German head coach Han Abbing: “We lost yesterday. It is sometimes difficult to retrieve your confidence. However, we knew that we were the better team tonight. We managed to analyze their game quite well.”
Czech coach Stanislav Mitac: “It was almost a copy of yesterday’s match. We started very well. But for the rest of the game, Germany played much better. It’s a pity; we had planned to win this match.”
