Germany’s Saskia Hippe (No 13) gave a great substitution scoring 14 points
Germany and Kazakhstan have played two previous World Grand Prix matches against each other, with Germany winning both in straight sets. Germany also won their first World Grand Prix match of this season, on Aug. 2, beating Kazakhstan 3-1.
On Sunday, Germany’s Maren Brinker led her team with 19 points, while Kazakhstan’s Tatyana Mudritskaya was the top scorer for her team, with 18 points.
Sunday’s match again against Germany stated with Kazakhstan pulling ahead 2-0, but Germany’s women worked quickly to get a 6-4 advantage. At the first technical time out (TTO) Germany’s Maren Brinker got an ace, giving her team the lead at 8-5, proving their superiority till the second break 16-9. Kazakhstan’s coach Oleksandr Gutor tried to change game of his team by substituting the setter, but the team could not stop the admirable game of European League winners, who secured the first set win 25-14.
Germany continued their lead in the second set, as Tatyana Mudritskaya and Olga Nassedkina helped their team get ahead. With a strong lead, Germany’s coach Giovanni Guidetti decided to put the reserve players on the court, giving Denise Hanke and Saskia Hippe a chance to play. Each player on the German team performed well to win the set 25-11.
After two good attacks by Olga Nassedkina, Kazakhstan took a 12-11 advantage. The game was neck-and-neck until 15-15 when a spike by Kazakhstan’s Lyudmila Anarbayeva gave them the lead 16-15. Kazakhstan’s team kept the small lead at (19-17). As Germany fell behind, Anarbayeva served another ace at 21-18 and Nassedkina blocked on free ball over the net it, giving the underdogs the lead at 22-19. Kazakhstan’s Sana Jarlagassova attacked for 24-20, leading Germany’s coach to call for a time out. The short pause did not change anything on the court, however, and a unsuccessful spike by Germany’s Saskia Hippe gave Kazakhstan the final point and the set win at 25-20.
In the fourth set, Brinker tried to do save the bad game, but was alone until Cathleen Weiss served an ace for 12-10 for Germany. At that point, Germany was back in the game and they started to block well with Kozuch and Furst. Kazahstan caught up at 13-14 and Germany’s coach asked for a time out. At the next TTO, Germany was back ahead 16-14, and they remained focused on the match until the end, securing the final victory 25-19.
For more news from this competition, click on World Grand Prix 2013.
