FIVB
In the fifth four-star tournament this season, Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart show their best performance. They win their group and only hand in one set in five games on the way to the final.
But in the final against the US girls Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes, the Swiss women never really find their rhythm. The timing on the network is not always optimal, so you cannot keep the pressure constantly high in the attack. Betschart has to find solutions because 90 percent of the Americans allude to them with the service.
But Sponcil on the US defensive is a tough nut to crack, she reads the game and defends well. But Hüberli / Betschart keep getting up, equalize and sometimes go in the front. But then too often mistakes of their own creep in, both in the attack and in the service, which slow them down again and again. Only when the passes are in place do their attacking balls do the same. In the end there are too few.
The 19:21 in the first set is followed by 17:21 in the second set, which seals the 0-2 defeat in the final. Nevertheless, this 2nd place is the best of the Swiss duo so far in this challenging season. And this two months before the Olympics.