Belgium – Germany
The score remained very close in the early phases of the first set with Belgium paced by the blocks killed by Angie Bland and the attacks by Freya Aelbrecht and Hélène Rousseaux. However, their opponents responded well breaking away after the score was evened at 12 with Margareta Anna Kozuch, Denise Hanke and Christiane Fürst pocketing the provisional 0:1.
Belgium stepped up in the second set with a terrific performance by Els Vandesteene well supported by Bland and Aelbrecht for the provisional 8:5. Germany made quite many mistakes in this section of the game and this helped the home side go for the 1:1 in sets.
Rousseaux and Vandesteene made once more the difference for Belgium in set 3 helping break away in the score (16:13) and by the time Saskia Hippe tried to level the count, Bland was there to block to make it 2:1 for the home girls.
Belgium suffered a drop of concentration in the beginning of the fourth set with Germany going up 10:3; still Belgium could fight their way back with the serves by Frauke Dirickx, and the contribution by Charlotte Leys. From 8:13 down Belgium leveled at 14 all but the experience of Kozuch, Hanke and Fürst helped Germany call for the tie-break.
This was a close fight up to 9 all before Germany made some silly mistakes; Bland and Rousseaux did not waste this opportunity and for the joy of the home audience they finished it off at 15-9 for a second memorable win against one of the top teams in Europe.
“Germany was much stronger than Serbia we played yesterday but we kept on fighting and we won. Our tigers are here” said Belgian mentor Gert Vande Broek.
“We made too many mistakes in the deciding moments but in general also throughout the game. We played better than we had done yesterday with Israel but the Belgian team was well prepared and organized. Moreover, they are ready to play that kind of games for they have been together for a longer time. On the other hand, we are still fine tuning our preparations for a busy season” stresses Germany head coach Giovanni Guidetti.
To read more news from this competition click on European League 2013 W.
For all the detailed stats click on Statistics.
