Richmond, Canada, July 22, 2017 – Germany earned their seventh straight win in the 2017 FIVB World Grand Prix, beating the Czech Republic 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-15) Saturday at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
Germany attacked the Czechs with a balanced offence, which saw seven different players score at least seven points. Jana Franziska Poll led the Germans with 12 points.
The Czech Republic’s Michaela Mlejnkova was the guiding force for her team’s offence for the second time in as many nights, with 13 points, including 11 kills.
The win improves Germany’s record to 7-1 in the World Grand Prix. The Czech Republic, who will host the Group 2 Final Round July 29-30, sees their record fall to 6-2.
Germany has now won 15 straight sets in the World Grand Prix. The last team to take a set from Germany was Kazakhstan in a 3-1 German win.
After a tight start to the opening set, Germany took over midway through with a strong block leading the way. Germany collected six blocks en route to a seven-point win. The Czech Republic were held without a single block in the set. The German side opened as much as an eight-point lead before holding on for the win. Poll had a team-high five points for Germany.
With setter Irina Kemmsies earning three kills off second ball swings, Germany took a 10-6 lead early in the second set. The Germans extended that lead to 16-9 at the second technical timeout, before the Czech Republic started chipping away. With Mlejnkova earning five points in the set, the Czechs got within one point at 22-21. However, three straight German points ended the set in their favour. Maren Fromm had five points in the set to lead Germany.
In the third set, the Germans opened a 9-6 lead after a Kimberly Drewniok ace. Drewniok, who came off the bench midway through the second set, went on to collect seven points, powering Germany in the late stages of the match. Similar to the second set, the Czechs made a push to get within one point, at 12-11, only to see Germany take a 16-11 lead at the break. After that, it was all Germany, pulling away for a 25-15 win. Poll had the winning kill for Germany.
The match was the first ever meeting between the Czech Republic and Germany in the World Grand Prix. The last time these two teams met was in the 2015 European Championship when Germany won in straight sets.