Dutch players celebrate another point on their way to another win
Lausanne, Switzerland, August 24, 2017 – The Netherlands and Bulgaria extended their winning runs to three wins from three as the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, Japan 2018 CEV European Qualifiers continued on Thursday.
It is the third and final round of European qualifications for the 2018 edition of the Women’s World Championship and runs from August 22-27 at the Topsport Centrum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The teams play each other once in a round-robin format and the winners and runners-up will qualify for Japan 2018. Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Italy, Azerbaijan and Germany have already booked their places in the World Championship, which runs from September 29-October 20, 2018.
The Netherlands delighted their fans with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-18) victory over the Czech Republic in 90 minutes.
Lonneke Sloetjes led scoring for the host nation with 21 points, while teammate Robin De Kruijf won the match with a block, one of four she made during the match.
Bulgaria kept up their pursuit of the Netherlands with a 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-21, 25-17) win against Greece.
Despite losing, Anthi Vasilantonaki led scoring with 18 points. She scored 15 from spikes, while the other three came from ace serves. Nonetheless Greece were unable to find a way past Eva Yaneva, who enjoyed an 87 per cent reception ration.
Belgium returned to winning ways by defeating Slovenia 3-1 (26-24, 25-13, 23-25, 25-23). It means that they now sit four points by Bulgaria, with the sides set to meet on Friday.
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