Toyama, Japan, September 24, 2019 – Russia beat The Netherlands 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-20) on the eighth day of the FIVB Women’s World Cup at Toyama City Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Russia coach Sergio Busato: "I want to thank my team for this result and for their play today because it was very hard. But this is exactly the kind of situation and climate we have in the Olympic Games, so for me this kind of hard battle is very important because in the Olympic Games every ball is a battle. For me, I want my team to play with heart and passion. I don’t think it’s a technical matter, because fighting against a great team like the Netherlands is a difficult game to play for us. We are not great technicians and so we must play like we did, with passion and heart; this brought my team victory today. I’m very satisfied for my team. Looking ahead to the next round, it’s very hard because we will face USA and Brazil. For my team, I think it’s very important to experience the Olympic Games and every match now will have the same climate as the Olympic Games. Brazil and USA will be in the Olympic Games and even Kenya maybe. For this reason, it’s a very big experience for Tokyo 2020."
Russia captain Evgeniya Startseva: "Our opponents today were very strong but during the middle of the game we could find some answers and also when we changed players they did well and that helped us gain momentum and brought us victory."
Netherlands coach Jamie Morrison: "It was a disappointing match. I think you were able to see the level we can play in the first 20 points of the first set. Congratulations to Russia; they’re a good volleyball team and they fought back well and I thought we backed down a little bit at that point. I’m disappointed, to say the least. For us, this tournament is preparation for the Olympic qualifiers in January, so these next matches are a chance for us to play at a high level. We get to play China, one of the best teams in the world; they’re going to push us to a higher level. We get to play the Dominican Republic, one of the most athletic teams in the world; they’re going to push us to a higher level. And then we get to play Japan in Japan, which is always a special thing to do and we get to play in front of a lot of people who will be cheering against us, which I think is important. So, we’re looking forward to those challenges.
"The coach [Sergio Busato] made some great challenges in the match. I felt like they could do no wrong when it came to touches and small little things like that. There were some breaks that went Russia’s way, but I told my team in the middle of it that it was on our side that was the issue. I thought our reception broke down in the second set and in the third set we became impatient and made too many big errors. I just thought that we went away from doing the things that got us the lead in the first set just because they won the first set, which is frustrating."
Netherlands captain Maret Balkestein-Grothues: "First, congratulations to Russia. I think we started the first set very good, with good serves and attacks from us. At the end of the first set, Russia came back. We didn’t score on our attack any more and after that we didn’t play our game and Russia was the better team today, so the result is disappointing."
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