5-set thriller ends in loss for home side
Thailand suffered their second successive Pool 11 defeat at the hands of Germany at the FIVB Nations League at Indoor Stadium, Hua Mark last night.
The Thai women went down to Germany in a 3-2 (25-23, 28-26, 23-25, 22-25, 15-10) thriller. It was their sixth loss overall in the inaugural tournament.
The team had hoped to sweep all three Pool 11 games in the home leg but now risk losing all the games as they next face the red-hot United States today.
The Americans beat the Dominican Republic for their seventh win of the tournament earlier in the day.
The US have been unstoppable since losing their second match at home against Turkey, winning 18 sets in a row.
Despite the defeat, the Thai team put on a brave performance to extend the match to five sets, coming back from two sets down to push the Germans to the limit.
Earlier, Kimberly Hill and Lauren Gibbemeyer celebrated their returns to the starting line-up as the US continued their hot streak with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-21) victory against the Dominicans.
Hill and Gibbemeyer both missed Tuesday’s straight-sets win over Germany but capped their comebacks with a combined
27 points, with Hill finishing with 16 and Gibbemeyer racking up 11.
Michelle Bartsch-Hackley was once again the US team’s top scorer. She compiled 19 points to take her total for the tournament to 106, the most by any player on the American roster, as the reigning world champions posted their sixth consecutive 3-0 win in the competition.
Brayelin Martinez led the Dominican Republic with 19 points, including a gamehigh 17 kills from 36 attempts, taking her total of spikes in the tournament to 103 and her overall points total to 120.
Wing spiker Yonkaira Pena also troubled
the Americans throughout the contest and picked up 13 points along the way, while Lisvel Eve and Dominican captain Niverka Marte got seven each.
The Dominican Republic beat hosts Thailand 3-0 on Tuesday but yesterday’s defeat left them at 2-6 in the tournament.
In Pool 12, Cristina Chirichella delivered for Italy with a 10-point haul as they breezed to a 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 victory over Argentina at Hong Kong Colesium.
FIXTURES
Today: Dominican Republic v Germany (3.05pm); Thailand v United States (6.05pm)