Germany return to winning ways against Puerto Rico
Angelina Grun spikes against Puerto Rico
Germany
vs
Puerto Rico
3
-
0
Germany bounced back from their heart-breaking defeat to the Netherlands to score a 3-0 victory over Puerto Rico on Thursday in Pool F of the FIVB Volleyball World Championship for Women in Osaka.
The Germans showed no ill-effects from their exhausting 3-2 loss to the Dutch on Wednesday, though they had to work hard in each set to put away the determined Puerto Ricans.
Their 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 victory gave them their first victory of the second round, adding to the four wins they garnered in Sapporo last week - two of which count in Osaka.
Christiane Furst was the star of the show for Germany, with coach Giovanni Guidetti giving her more playing time than usual because of her willingness to attack at any opportunity.
Birgit Thumm and Corina Ssuska powered Germany to a 8-5 lead with some splendid spiking and defence while captain Angelina Grun and Kathleen Weiss provided the feed from the middle.
Thumm took a lead role in attack to help Germany go 12-6 up before a lack of concentration allowed Puerto Rico to come back to 12-9.
Germany also dominated their opponents in defence with a series of fine blocks taking them to a 16-10 second time-out lead.
Tatiana Encarnacion's spikes from both wings and German mistakes were Puerto Rico's main source of points as they struggled to create effective attacking opportunities.
However, they improved their defence and three blocks from Sheila Ocasio and Jetzabel Del Valle brought Puerto Rico back into the game at 22-21.
Spikes from Furst and Atika Bouagaa took Germany to set point at 24-21 only for their opponents to fightback to 24-23.
Furst finally won the set for Germany with a smash down the middle.
Puerto Rico were more attack-minded at the start of the second set, with captain Aurea Cruz in fine form, helping them take a 6-5 lead before settling for a 7-8 deficit at the first time out.
But they weren't about to let Germany get away, capitalising on several German errors to retake the lead at 10-9.
Riding the momentum, Encarnacion helped her side to a surprise 16-13 lead. Del Valle then pounced twice at the net to maintain the Central Americans' three-point lead at 18-15.
But the Germans, as has been their feature throughout the tournament, dug in for the fight.
Bouagaa's delicate lob restored Germany's lead at 20-19. Thumm brought up set point with a service ace and Grun put Germany two sets up with a thundering spike down the line.
Grun helped Germany establish an 8-6 third-set lead despite allowing Puerto Rico a number of easy points.
Puerto Rico had one of their best spells in the match in terms of attacks and blocks, helping them to fight back and lead 16-15.
Grun restored Germany's lead at 17-16 as they crept towards victory Thumm ensuring the win with a tip into empty space.
