World Grand Prix 2009

    What a brilliant player Manon Flier is! :thumbup:


    that point at 13-12 on the fifth set was absolutely ridicules!! i honestly thought that was it, Germany will tie and gain momentum and then close out the match,but it wasn't to be, Manon really willed her team to victory today because imo the rest of the team were below average. :thumbdown:


    I'm very impressed with the German team, i knew they would trouble the dutch with their service, specially Chaine, but today even Stam, Blom and Van Tienen struggled against the german service unit. and the other aspects of thier game look better than i expected it to be. Plus they fight hard for every point. now if Petrausch and the other youngsters develop well, their future is certainly bright.

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    Quote from Mainframe

    What a brilliant player Manon Flier is! :thumbup:


    that point at 13-12 on the fifth set was absolutely ridicules!! i honestly thought that was it, Germany will tie and gain momentum and then close out the match,but it wasn't to be, Manon really willed her team to victory today because imo the rest of the team were below average. :thumbdown:


    I'm very impressed with the German team, i knew they would trouble the dutch with their service, specially Chaine, but today even Stam, Blom and Van Tienen struggled against the german service unit. and the other aspects of thier game look better than i expected it to be. Plus they fight hard for every point. now if Petrausch and the other youngsters develop well, their future is certainly bright.


    Right: Manon was absolute famous on this important points! And Germany fight till the end, beautifull game,not good,but very exciting!

    Who ll stop Brazil? :whistle:

    oh Manon Manon what Holland will do without u. amazing game by Dutch Opp. once again she carry whole Holland attack on her shoulder :)
    Germany really surprice me. i thought they will be the weakest team here but they are very dangerous and today they nerly beat Holland( Corina Shuske mistake in the end of a tie break was crucial moment in this match)


    Brazil today showed some fine volleyball. i really like Dani Lins today quick accurate ball , great rythm with a back row players :) and Natalia was simple amazing today, why such players don't born in Poland :lol:


    so now Japan will face Russia, if Japanesse want to archive something better than just 6th place they HAVE to win today.
    Go Japan :super:


    Anyone can support a team that is winning - it takes no courage. But to
    stand behind a team to defend a team when it is down and really needs
    you, that takes a lot of courage.

    Quote from Europe

    Who ll stop Brazil? :whistle:

    Right now no team is able to stop Brazil!! And the answer is very simple: Brazil is the only balanced team right now in all six basics of volley (attack, block, reception, defence, serve, setting). Plus every position is filled with the right player. There are no holes. The only problems could be Natalia's reception, which she can improve and Dani Lins young age. When Paula replaces Natalia, Brazil will be even stronger.


    -China and Japan trying to mock western style of volleball was a disaster 'till now. And I think it won't work. So I suggest those two teams to return to their old styles. They can adjust it by mocking the Brazilians. China and Japan cannot struggle in reception and defence, since they are not strong attackers. Those were always their strong points.
    -On the other hand Russia demonstrated once again that they can be a danger. I won't be surprised if they win the other matches. Certainly they have a lot of weak points. They more or less adjusted reception, but by doing this they put outside of the game the MBs. If Dutch girls are smart enough they can beat Russia by exploiting their weak points.

    Russia wins vs China..hehe
    borodakova and murtazaeva...have some good moments....
    Gamova was little off this day..her spikes were dugged or sometimes blocked...
    Koshleleva was great...Makarova was good at hitting down the line spikes


    Wang Yimei was good at start but started to decline later on the match...

    :wall: :wall: I think I'm dreaming.............. just saw Japan-Netherlands.....................3-0 :wall:
    Holland wasn't bad but Japan did all they must do, defend all the attacks of Holland, and make their points on the right moments.
    Pffffffffffffff

    @ Marieke


    Yeah, it's a bad dream, we awake from. I didn't expect this at all.


    When you play against Japan, you know that you have to cope with their typical Asian weapons; very good defence, fast attacks and great float-services. Today Japan did that things very well, especially their float-services destroyed the Dutch reception, so they were able to defend in the upcoming rally.


    I can't remember the last time Netherlands lost to Japan 0-3...


    Tomorrow against Brazil...I hope the girls will take revenge on themselves and can win a set.

    Quote from Bartek85

    Oh Mateo will be very happy :)

    you don't even know how happy i am :D
    Japan did a great job today.they dug all Dutch attack. Sano is just amazing. they serve very well so Steleans couln't pass quick balls to wings and they struggle to score a points.


    so tommorow a Asian clash. go for it Japan you can beat China :drink: :super:


    Anyone can support a team that is winning - it takes no courage. But to
    stand behind a team to defend a team when it is down and really needs
    you, that takes a lot of courage.

    You're absolutely right, Mateo.


    Japan served and defended very well, that's the key of the match in my opinion. The Dutch reception was really awful to watch, and on the other hand
    the Japanbese float-service is is almost art. Astonishing!


    I hope Avital will give tomorrow some substitutes a chance to play against Brazil, now the Dutch team can't win anymore the tournament.



    Quote from mateo

    you don't even know how happy i am :D
    Japan did a great job today.they dug all Dutch attack. Sano is just amazing. they serve very well so Steleans couln't pass quick balls to wings and they struggle to score a points.


    so tommorow a Asian clash. go for it Japan you can beat China :drink: :super:

    @ Marieke


    Holland was bad in my opinion. Bad blocking, serving and reception. Since the reception was bad, the attack was predictable so Japan could easily defend. And about their libero Sano, great match!!


    But about the Japan floatservice, i think the Dutch receivers speculate to much on in/out.


    And Brazil will win the grand prix.. !

    @ Chipp


    You're right. I forgot to mention that the Dutch service - too many errors - and block were also very poor, besides reception.


    Maybe we can conclude that it was a general off-day! The statistics aren't unfortunately yet available on the FIVB-site,



    Wow that was a shocker for Netherlands. I saw only the last 10 minutes, I am sure without all those service errors in the end (De Kruijf, Flier, Staelens) they could have turned the set around. So tomorrow BRA-NED is the "final", if Brazil wins everything is clear.


    Anyone watched BRA-GER? What happened? Yesterday I wanted to write that finally we are playing well, and now this :white:


    I am so happy about Kosheleva's performance, I watched her with junior team 3 years ago and thought "she will be a star in some years" and finally she confirms my prediction 8)


    Chipp


    Reception was poor,you're right,but block was good, but Japan defend all that balls amazing! Their libero was really good, and their serve also.

    Quote from Matthias

    Wow that was a shocker for Netherlands. I saw only the last 10 minutes, I am sure without all those service errors in the end (De Kruijf, Flier, Staelens) they could have turned the set around. So tomorrow BRA-NED is the "final", if Brazil wins everything is clear.


    Anyone watched BRA-GER? What happened? Yesterday I wanted to write that finally we are playing well, and now this :white:


    I am so happy about Kosheleva's performance, I watched her with junior team 3 years ago and thought "she will be a star in some years" and finally she confirms my prediction 8)


    Matthias


    I saw BRA-GER, and Brasil was so good, and Germany had offday,nothing to see from the high-level of yesterday. Brasil will win this WGP I think. Or had Holland some other thoughts?

    Block good? The middle-blockers didn't get a direct point with blocking, not that good in my opinion! And about the serve errors, when you saw some faces.. it looked like they didn't believed in it together to come back. Now prepare for Brasil!


    The match of Germany against Brasil, I have seen set 3, was that Brasil was defending and scoring very well. No chance at all for Germany..

    @ Matthias


    In this tournament one can see that reception is still (!) very important. The Dutch team e.g. is strong on the net, because of their height, but against teams with a very good float-service - Japan today and yesterday Germany - they get into big troubles. Everbody knows that Chaine Staelens isn't that movable, and if even Stam and van Tienen get into trouble in reception, than the Dutch team becomes an easy opponent to beat.


    About GER-BRA:


    I didn't see the match, but maybe Germany had today a classic off-day, like the Dutch. Brazil is by far the strongest team in the world, just like in Men's volleyball. The Brazilian teams have such a huge arsenal of good players that it's almost impossible to beat them. If you want to have a real chance to beat them, you have to do that with enormous power in attack. Otherwise you will fail.