Germany 3:1 Netherlands – A great battle for the first win in VNL 2023

Set 1

After a really strong start the first game by the Netherlands led by their star setter Dijkema managed to get their lead to 3 points. The second half of the set, however, belonged to Antonia Stautz and the Germany team. After managing to even the score at 19:19, Hanna Orthmann’s strong serving won the first set at Germany 25:21 Netherlands.

Set 2

Another great start for the Netherlands getting their three point lead at 6:3. This time Germany managed to equalize even earlier at 8:8. It was a mostly even middle of the game, where Lina Alsmeier’s strong plays managed to slowly pull her team ahead for 18:15. The momentum swung back to the Netherlands team as Felix Koslowski made some changes in his team to reach 21:21. That wasn’t enough, as more and more errors crept up on the Netherland’s side of the net and Germany won 25:22.

Set 3

The start of set 3 was equal. Both teams playing point for point with the beginning of it. Then the Netherlands block went fully on to get them a three point lead at 15:12. It was then Germany’s turn to show their prowess in defense and blocking striking hard and leading 20:18. As the game went on, so did the turn arounds. Hana Marring proved her prowess spiking and acing giving the Netherlands their first set at 25:20.

Set 4

The set started out equally but with a lot of nerves. The Germany coach Vital Heynen even got a yellow card by the referee. Slowly but steadily, the Germany team was pulling head one point at a time to reach 15:12. They managed to keep their difference until the end of the game, with the fourth set finishing 25:22

MVP: Hanna Orthmann