Almaty, Kazakhstan, September 21, 2017 – Australia sent off nine service aces to help seal a straight-sets victory against Fiji (25-18, 25-16, 25-10) in Almaty’s Baluan Sholak Sports Palace. Thursday’s match marked the first victory for the Australian side in Pool A of the 2018 FIVB Women’s World Championship – AVC Qualification Tournament.
Rebecca Reeve was the top scorer with 12 points from nine attacks and three service aces, but commended on the entire team’s effort.
“It was a great game by the entire team, with our first win in this tournament. It is a good start for us and hopefully it works well from here and we will see what we can bring into the next match,” said Reeve.
“I think we just had an aggressive mindset today. It was our game plan from the beginning to go all out and we did that. For sure, that kind of effort will come with errors but it all worked out for us in the end,” Reeve added.
Australia’s Jennifer Sadler also figured in double-digits, with 10 points from seven attacks, one block and two service aces.
In the first set, Australia enabled their hitters Reeve from the wing and Katarina Osadchuk at the middle as the primary options for offence. They ran their plays well and performed well from the service line, but suffered from their share of errors. Fiji showed they could orchestrate their plays, so long as they could get their first ball properly. This was mostly the challenge for Fiji, as Australia took the opener 25-18.
By the next set, the Fiji side continued to struggle with their reception but posted better recovery to execute some successful plays. They later seemed to have lost composure as they committed errors in passing and attacking. The Australian side supported their middle hitters, with Osadchuk and captain Beth Carey working hard both on block and attack, to help take the second set at 25-16.
In the third set, Australia’s systems were all in check. They were serving aggressively, fully knowing their opponents’ reception flaws. They timed their blocks well to deflect any attack, and they maximised their momentum all the way to 25-10 in the final set.
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