The Netherlands knocked Korea out of the race 3-1 to gain their first ever entry to the Olympic semifinals
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 16, 2016 – The Netherlands will make their first ever Olympic semifinal appearance, following their 3-1 (25-19, 25-14, 22-25, 25-20) win over Korea in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games women’s volleyball quarterfinals at Maracanazinho on Tuesday.
Korean captain Kim Yeon-Koung had a match-high 27 points, including 25 spikes and two blocks, but it was the scoring efforts of the Dutch frontline that helped the team to win. Lonneke Sloetjes, Judith Pietersen and Anne Buijs scored 23, 17 and 15 points, respectively.
It rained aces on the Korean court, as the Netherlands tallied 12 service winners, including Pietersen’s five.
The Korean captain started hot in the first set, but Laura Dijkema orchestrated balanced plays for her hitters. Sloetjes matched Kim Yeon-Koung’s intensity to gain edge, then the team kept their pace to end the first set 25-19. The Netherlands showed more intensity in the second frame, as Dutch trio –Sloetjes, Pietersen and Buijs – notched a lot of points that built a big lead. Netherlands took a 2-0 set-edge after Park Jeongah’s cross-court spike landed outside the line 25-14.
Korea held their ground in the third set as Kim Yeong-Koung unloaded powerful hits to gain the advantage, but the Netherlands persevered towards the end and managed to cut down the lead to within one point at 24-23. Kim Heejin’s spike from the middle kept Korea in the game 25-22.
The Netherlands capitalised on the errors of Korea to gain ground in the fourth set. The Korean frontline struggled to overcome the tough Dutch net defence. The Netherlands missed on their attempts and allowed Korea to get closer 22-19, but the Netherlands kept their focus and scored the final three points to gain match victory 25-20.