Trieste, Italy, October 4, 2014 – Germany outplayed Belgium 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-21) in Round E of the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship at PalaTrieste on Saturday.
Key Facts
- Germany have put an end to a streak of four consecutive losses at the World Championship, their longest one since they started taking part in the competition as unified Germany.
- Germany’s six points in Pool E standing result from Saturday’s victory and three five set defeats.
- Belgium has four points, having won against Azerbaijan in the first round and lost 2-3 against the Dominican Republic.
- This was the third time the two teams met at the World Championship. In 1956 Belgium won over West Germany in straight sets, in 1978 they were defeated by East Germany also in straight sets.
- Top scorer was Belgium’s Lise van Hecke with 16 points. In the German team, best scorer was Maren Brinker with 15, followed in the double digits by Heike Beier (14) and Margareta Kozuch (12).
The first set saw an immediate predominance of Germany that ran into an 11-5 advantage. Captain Margareta Kozuch got some powerful spikes underway, supported by good teamwork. A couple of big kills by Lisa van Hecke, number four scorer in this Championship, brought some dignity to the scoreboard. Nevertheless, Maren Brinker’s serves were difficult to keep at bay. Van Hecke managed to earn eight points in this set, but it was not enough. Germany won 25-20.
The beginning of set two saw three tallies in a row by Germany, followed by three Belgian ones. Captain Charlotte Leys brought some momentum back into her team, but it was short-lived. The score remained even until a block kill from Wiebke Silge and a spike shot from Brinker earned a 12-8 advantage for Germany. Both teams attacked mightily, but Germany’s blocks and defense worked better. Heike Beier’s shots wrote down the last two points for Germany 25-15.
In the third set Belgium led at last 4-2. But Germany had no difficulty in climbing back into dominance again, coach Giovanni Guidetti’s iPad, permanently under his arm, apparently acting as a lucky charm. They signed six consecutive points. Unstoppable spikes, blocks and aces contributed to a 16-9 score. Then a German dump answered by a Belgian one gave Lisa van Hecke the upper hand. A wicked spike from Angie Bland and an ace from Nina Coolman also helped Belgium shorten the gap to two tallies 21-23. However, at this point a long serve and a receiving error wrote down the set and match victory for Germany 25-21.