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MONTREUX, Switzerland, May 29, 2015 – Netherlands and Japan are
still undefeated at the 30th Montreux Volley Masters as the
“Oranje” swept the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-22)
and the team from the Land of the Rising sun overpowered Italy
3-0 (25-12, 28-26, 25-16). Russia, on the other hand, completed
the Final Four after downing Chinese youngsters 3-1 (18-25,
25-23, 25-19, 25-23).
Even though three out of four semi-finalists had already been
determined, there were still plenty of questions to be answered
on the last Pool Play Day at the Montreux Volley Masters 2015 in
front of almost 2.000 hyped spectators in the venue.
The first question to be answered was if the “Oranje” from the
Netherlands would start with a hat trick under Giovanni
Guidetti’s lead; they had already won their first two pool games
at the Montreux Volley Masters and just had been one win away of
the triple. The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, were
poised to stop their negative series at the Montreux Masters
after two losses.
The Dutch, however, started better into the game: Manon Flier
put a lot of pressure on the Latin Americans with her sharp
serves and spikes. The Dominicans did their very best, but
couldn’t hold against as they struggled too much in their own
build up plays. As a consequence, the “Oranje” booked kill after
kill to scoop the victory and to make it three in a row under
Guidetti.
In the second game of the day, Japan were poised to mount the
throne in Pool B keeping a clean sheet. The team from East Asia
impressed with a spotless performance in the previous two pool
games at the Montreux Volley Masters. Their opponents from Italy
were willing to not finish the Pool Plays on the last place
after two clear defeats.
But the Japanese were just too strong for the Italian
youngsters: the team from the Land of the Rising Sun rolled over
Marco Bonitta’s squad to sweep them 25-12 in the first set. The
Italians recovered from this huge setback, couldn’t stop the
Japanese attacking waves though; this demonstration of power
resulted in a victory and a 3-0 winning streak.
In the third and last game of Day 4, Russia and China were eager
to battle for the last ticket to the semis. Both teams started
with a 1-1 record into this decisive match for the Final Four
berth. The Chinese youngsters overwhelmed the Russians in the
opening set. The Russians, however, kept their nerves and
answered with three consecutive set wins in order to capture the
game 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23) and the last spot in the
Montreux Volley Masters semis.
The spectators in the venue and the fans glued to their TV
screens at home can look forward to more breath-taking games on
Saturday: Germany play the Dominican Republic at 14.00 (CET) and
China face Italy at 21.00, while the Netherlands battle Turkey
in the semis at 16.30 and Japan duel Russia at 19.00 for the
second semi-final clash. |
