Nagoya, Japan, October 10, 2018 - Maren Fromm and Louisa Lippmann combined for a potent 1-2 punch, each scoring 25 points, as Germany downed Puerto Rico in 3-1 (25-23, 27-25, 29-27, 25-22) in the second round of the FIVB Women's World Championship on Wednesday night.
Jennifer Geerties added 12 points in the win for Germany.
Stephanie Enright was the high scorer for Puerto Rico in the loss.
Germany entered the match with a 4-3 record, while Puerto Rico was 2-5.
Both teams did a good job of passing the ball and finding their wing spikers during the contest.
The match was a seesaw affair that both teams looked like they might win at different points.
Germany ultimately prevailed with the combination of Lippman and Fromm blasting away on attack.
Puerto Rico showed a lot of grit by battling the entire match. They excelled on offense and defense at points, but could not sustain either enough to prevail.
The opening set was close until Karina Ocasio hammered a spike to give Puerto Rico a 12-9 lead. The Puerto Ricans featured an aggressive attack and were up 16-13 at the first TTO after Santana Daly's spike was blocked out. A nice spike off a back set by Lippmann evened the score at 19-19. With the set tied 23-23, Germany gained set point on a service ace by Jennifer Geerties, then took the set 25-23 on a spike by Lippmann.
Germany moved ahead 9-7 in the second set on a spike by Ivana Vanjak off a nice back set. The Germans held a 16-15 lead at the seccond TTO on a spike by Maren Fromm. Germany passed the ball continually well in the set. Germany applied pressure on the Puerto Rican defense late in the set and opened up a 21-18 advantage. Puerto Rico battled back with three straight points to equalize at 21-21 and Germany took a timeout. Germany retoook the lead 22-21 on a huge spike by Lippmann. Puerto Rico moved back ahead 23-22 on a nice tip by Santana over the high block. A block by Roxana Wezorke gave Germany set point at 24-23, but Puerto Rico stormed back to take the set 27-25 on a spike by Enright.
Daly gave Puerto Rico an 8-7 lead at the first TTO of third set with a flying spike. The Puerto Ricans broke the set open by taking eight of the next 11 points to lead 16-11 at the second TTO. The Puerto Rico attack was functioning well, while the Germans struggled in reception and blocking. Germany fought back to equalize at 22-22 and moved ahead 23-22. Puerto Rico went back up 24-23 on an ace by Daly, before Germany rallied to take the set 29-27 on a Lippmann blast.
German appeared energized after taking the third set and was up 8-5 at the first TTO in the third set. Lippmann connected with a windmill spike as Germany stayed ahead 11-8. Just when it looked like the Germans would run away with the fourth set, Puerto Rico battled back to pull within one at 21-20. A Vanjak spike gave Germany match point at 24-21 and they finished it 25-22 on a Lippman spike.