Russia against Netherlands in Continental Cup Final final
Recap
Russia and the Netherlands will play for the coveted Olympic ticket in Saturday’s women’s final of the CEV Continental Cup Final in the Hague. In Friday’s semifinals at Scheveningen Beach, Russia outplayed Greece in two straight games, while the home team needed a three-set golden mach to overcome Norway.
In the first match between the Netherlands and Norway, Marleen Ramond-van Iersel & Pleun Ypma fought back after losing the first set to Sunniva Helland-Hansen & Ane Hjortland and emerged with a 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 17-15) victory. Ingrid Lunde & Emilie Olimstad, however, stunned home favourites Raisa Schoon & Katja Stam in a hard-fought straight-setter, 2-0 (22-20, 21-15), to level the tie. A bold move on the Dutch side to once again put forward Schoon & Stam for the golden match against the same opponents paid off. Eager to get back at the Norwegians and well inspired by the home crowd, Raisa and Katja earned a narrow 2-1 (21-18, 18-21, 16-14) win to push the Netherlands forward.
Katja Stam“This is the match that we have been dreaming of playing! It was really nice! Great atmosphere! In the first match, we didn’t play our game, so we tried to get some rest and to prepare better mentally to fight for each ball, and we did so from the start. Tomorrow, we hope to count again on the help of our supporters. They are like a third player on the court for us!”
The Netherlands
Marleen Ramond-van Iersel“We should give some credit to our opponents too! They were awesome, doing an amazing job, showing great defence. We told each other that we had to keep on fighting and that there was a way to come back. Truth to be told, if we win the Olympic ticket, it would be a huge bonus for us. Before starting this adventure together half a year ago, we were close to quitting, but we decided to give it a try and to see where the journey takes us.”
The Netherlands
Earlier on Friday, Russia took two victories in the other semifinal tie against Greece. In the first rubber, Ksenia Dabizha & Daria Rudykh delivered an emphatic 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) shutout of Eleni Baka & Maria Klepkou. In the second, Mariia Bocharova & Maria Voronina came back from a set down against Vasiliki Arvaniti & Panagiota Karagkouni to claim a 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-10) win.
Ksenia Dabizha“It would be a dream come true to win the Olympic ticket. It is my biggest aim and I hope we will achieve it together as a team.”
Russia
Daria Rudykh“We are very happy about this victory. We knew that we needed to pay attention to the small details and not to lose rhythm.”
Russia