Germany celebrated their first win at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2022. In their first Pool C match, against Bulgaria, they persevered through many ups and downs to emerge with a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21) victory at the GelreDome in Arnhem on Sunday.
Women's World Championship 2022
Germany down Bulgaria in rollercoaster match
Sholzel on fire in blocking
Published 07:39, 25 Sept 2022
The race in Pool C started on Saturday with Olympic champions USA’s straight-set victory over Kazakhstan, and on Sunday, defending world champions Serbia took a 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-20) win over Canada. The top four teams from each of the four round-robin pools will advance to the second pool phase of the tournament.
· Watch all FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2022 matches live on Volleyball TV.
Blocking was Germany’s main weapon in the duel with Bulgaria. Their middle blocker Marie Scholzel produced as many as six of the team’s 12 stuffs on the way to the victory, while the southern Europeans outplayed their opponents in serving with six aces against three. Bulgarian middle Nasya Dimitrova delivered the match high of 20 points, spiking at a 62% success rate and scoring three blocks and an ace. Outside hitter and captain Elitsa Atanasijevic, previously known by her maiden name Vasileva, added another 19 points to Bulgaria’s tally, while three players shared Germany’s best scorer honours with 13 points apiece - middle Camilla Weitzel and outsides Hanna Orthmann and Lina Alsmeier.
German celebration on the court
Bulgaria recovered from an early 7-3 German lead with five points in a row, with opposite Silvana Chausheva behind the serving line, to step in front with an 8-7 advantage and prompt an even battle through the rest of the set. German setter Pia Kastner delivered a break point with an ace for 17-15, an edge that was soon wiped out by Atanasijevic with a monster block for 19-19. However, after 22-22, it was all about Germany. Kastner surprised her team's opponents with a tip on two for 23-22, outside hitter and captain Jennifer Janiska came out on the court for the serve and delivered an ace for 24-22 and then Scholzel pocketed the set for Germany with a kill block for 25-22.
Dimitrova took charge and practically owned the net in the second set delivering in blocking and, most of all in offence. She even aced to give her team a 6-5 edge. Chausheva added another direct serving point for 8-6 and Bulgaria never looked back. While Dimitrova produced as many as eight points in the set, it was Chausheva who spiked successfully to bring in set point at 24-20 before middle Mira Todorova‘s monster block closed the set at 25-21.
Germany stormed into the third set with a 5-0 run on Weitzel’s serve. Bulgaria gradually recovered, with the help of aces from Atanasijevic for 6-4 and Todorova for 12-11, to catch up at 14-14. A kill block by Dimitrova even put them in front at 15-14. However, Weitzel hammered an overpass to level it back at 17-17 and prompt a tight epilogue. After 23-23, Scholzel’s attack brought in set point at 24-23. Then Scholzel herself converted it to a 25-23 win with a successful block.
Bulgaria started well in the fourth set and it seemed they were on their way to a tie-breaker, after mounting a six-point lead, which lasted through 13-7, with another couple of aces along the way, by Todorova for 4-1 and Chausheva for 12-6. It was Germany’s turn to recover from a large deficit, however. They managed to level it at 16-16 on an ace by Weitzel within an amazing eight-point series that pushed them forward to a 21-16 advantage. Then they just fought off any Bulgarian attempts to get back into the game until Weitzel nailed the 25-21 match winner through the middle.
“We have a great team spirit. We know that we have 14 strong people and we can change in any moment and help each other out,” said Janiska after the game. “What’s typical for us is we keep fighting till the end, and this is what we did today. This game was too important for us. We had been preparing for it for a long time. So I am very happy and proud of my team. Tomorrow is also very important. We go for the points.”
On Monday, Germany play against Kazakhstan at 15:30 local time (13:30 GMT), while Bulgaria face Serbia at 16:00 (14:00).
Earlier on Sunday, Belgium claimed a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-11) victory over Kenya and hosts the Netherlands produced a 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-13) shutout of Cameroon in Pool A, while China mastered a 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) win over Argentina and Japan hammered out a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-17) sweep of World Championship rookies Colombia.
