China wins the 26th edition of the Montreux Volley Masters
Montreux, June 13, 2010. After their victory in 2007, China returns to the highest step of the podium of the Montreux Volley Masters. The Chinese defeated the USA 3-1 in a spectacular final, confirming their impressive shape right before the 2010 World Championship. Earlier, in the little final, Cuba obtained the bronze medal after overcoming quite easily Russia 3-0. On the game for the fifth place, Poland quickly defeated the Netherlands, also in three sets.
From the very beginning of the match, it became clear for the 2,400 spectators that this final facing China to the United States would be highly competitive and balanced. Thanks to an excellent tactical performance, the Americans turned this final into the amazing game. While the United States convinced with an excellent block-defense strategy, the Chinese women enchanted the audience with well-timed attack combinations. The starting set finished on the tied score of 25-23 in favor of the USA. In the second set, the Americans controlled the game until 16-10, but then China hit back with some important points when they were most needed. This was also the match turning point. Although the game was highly balanced and very entertaining, the Chinese were always a bit faster, higher, and better. After two hours, the pleasant Chinese celebrated their fifth tournament victory here in Montreux.
On the match for the 3rd position, the Cubans were able to make fewer direct mistakes than during the semi-final against the USA, which notably helped them overcome a destabilized the cffcfffdRussian team. Indeed, deprived from Gonchareva, Russia suffered from a bad overall reception and couldn’t control their opponents’ offense. The score of the first two sets (25-13 and 25-18) well reflects the difficulties encountered by Vladimir Kuzyutkin’s players, who would probably have preferred that Ekaterina Gamova, present in the Pierrier gym, puts a jersey on and uses both her experience and her 206 cm for the benefit of her country. The souvenir of the rather poor Cuban performance last year was smoothed out thanks to their bronze medal. In addition, Kenia Carcaces was named tournament MVP and finished best scorer.
Poland dominated the entire game for the fifth place of the Montreux Volley Masters. They closed the match 3-0, with the last set on the sharp score of 25-12. Physically in better shape, Jersy Matlak's players showed a better performance than their opponents. For instance, three players of the Easteran Europeans finished with 10 points each, while on the Dutch side only Manon Flier stood out with 13 points. “This victory is not very surprising to us as we were feeling better” mentioned Katarzyna Zaroslinska, best scorer of the game with 17 points. “We are also happy that we finally defeated this team.” Indeed, Poland lost twice during the European championship against Poland, but also in the qualification match earlier this week. It is the second time that the Polish end up at the fifth rank. “We didn't have the energy to win today”, says Avital Selinger, head coach of the “Oranjes”. “During this week we have faced ups and downs, but the various tests I made will help me a lot during the season. This experience brought more self-confidence to the young players, especially to Laura Dijkema, our 19-year old setter.”
Best Players
Best Scorer : Kenia Carcaces / Cuba
Best Receiver: Ruogi Hui / China
Best Spiker: Tatiana Kosheleva / Russia
Best Blocker: Berenika Okuniewska / Poland
Best Server: Liyi Chen / China
Best Libero: Nicole Davis / USA
Best Setter: Qiuyue Wei / China
Most Valuable Player (MVP): Kenia Carcaces / Cuba
