• Submitted by: admin
• International
• Sports
• 08 / 17 / 2007

The Netherlands stunned international women's volleyball powerhouse Cuba with a 3-1 victory at the Macao leg of the 2007 women's volleyball Grand Prix on Friday.

Netherlands coach Avital Selinger said at a post-match conference that his team had done well in the attacks and thus put the pressures on the Cuban side.

"The Dutch side did better in blocks and spikes, " Cuba coach Perdomo Estrella said.

Not as expected by many observers, the Cuba side failed to dominate the net throughout the four sets, while the Dutch side showed much stronger determination to win the match.

Eleven draws jazzed up the stadium with a 4,000-strong capacity over Netherlands' first set campaign and the European side edged away at the end of the set by 27-25 with the help of the more stable defense.

The Dutchwomen failed to clinch the victory in the second set when the Cubans donned the net with more fierce firepower and won the set by 27-25.

The two sides both showcased their prowess on net with a batch of spikes in the third set when the Dutches gained the upper hand by 25-18 with less mistakes made.

The fourth set featured many stealing smashes when both teams were in a hard bid to shun the rival's powerful network. The Dutches won the set by 25-20 and surprisingly "stole" the whole match.

The four-team leg, which also features the host China and the United States, will conclude on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua