Jamie Morrison celebrates the Netherlands' win over Germany
Yokohama, Japan, September 29, 2018 - The Netherlands edged Germany in a thrilling 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 32-30) win in Pool A of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship on Saturday, and coach Jamie Morrison is hoping their strong finish will spur them on to more glory in Japan.
Netherlands coach Jamie Morrison - Germany is a very good volleyball team that we have a lot of respect for, so this is a good win for our team. I thought the team I saw in the last 20 points of the match, in that fourth set, is the team I’ve seen in practice for the last three weeks. I’m hoping those 20 points set the tone for us for the rest of this tournament.
Netherlands captain Maret Balkestein-Grothues - First of all I want to say that Germany did a really good job today and put us under a lot of pressure with their serve, and we also had a problem with that in the fourth set. The last 15 points were very good from both sides, a lot of rallies and high-play volleyball, and as the first match we are really happy with this result and the three points.
Germany coach Felix Koslowski - I want to send congratulations to the Netherlands team. I think they fought back really incredibly in the fourth set having been down for a long time - we just couldn’t close it. I must also congratulate my team though, today I am very very proud of them for the job they did. They played with a real fighting spirit.
Germany captain Maren Fromm - First of all I’d like to congratulate the Dutch team for a very good game, they fought back really well. But I think it was still a good opening match and if we keep this fighting spirit I think the next four games will be good for us.
Germany top scorer Louisa Lippmann - I would also like to start by congratulating the Dutch team. We were super disappointed after the match because we had a really good chance to go into a fifth set. We have to fight back and come back stronger from this match. Tomorrow is a new day, a new match, and we have a new opportunity.