VOLLEYBALL – Robbert Andringa from Assen has won the second match of the Olympic qualifying tournament with the Dutch volleyball men. The team was too strong for Mexico 3-0 in Xi’an, China. The set scores were 25-19 25-19 25-16. The Dutch team started the tournament with a narrow defeat against Canada.
The Netherlands did not encounter any problems against Mexico, number 21 in the world rankings. The Dutch team is eleven places higher in the global ranking. Despite the difference in the world rankings, the Netherlands could not immediately take distance in the first set. Partly thanks to a number of mistakes by the opponent, the Netherlands led to 18-12 halfway through the set and did not give away this margin.
In the second set, the Dutch team quickly gained three points (13-10). With the score at 19-13, the Mexican coach seemed to have little confidence left and threw away his board with notes. The Netherlands then finished it off 25-19. At the beginning of the third set it was evenly tied until 5-5. But thanks to a good service from Jorna, the Dutch team went ahead and decided the match 25-16.
The men of Piazza have a rest day on Monday. The Dutch team will then take on Belgium on Tuesday. Bulgaria, China, Poland and Argentina are the other opponents in the group. The best two countries will qualify for the Games in Paris next year.