Russia, Australia and the United States of America have maximum points after two days of thrilling 4x4 action in the Adriatic Sea.
Overview
Three teams have earned maximum points after two days of action. Russia dumped Greece 3-0, Australia pummelled South Africa 3-0, USA was well on top of Turkiye 3-0 and Spain gained its first win and sits in fourth position, downing Croatia 3-0.
Match Reports
Match 05, AUSTRALIA 3 SOUTH AFRICA 0 (8-0, 5-1, 7-2)
Australia gained a second win, never being pushed by South Africa. Pippa Pedley started the ball rolling for Australia from centre forward and captain Olivia Mitchell finished counter, as did Samantha Hardingham midway through the first set. The Aussies rattled in two more with the last three to Jolie Marsden — one with a push shot — and her third with a lob just beating the buzzer and the 8-0 mercy rule. Christina DiGiandomenico speared in two counter goals with South Africa’s Danya Thompson turning at centre forward early in the second set. Marsden scored her fourth and fifth goals and Pippa Pedley went on counter for 5-1, 19 seconds from the buzzer. Hardingham opened the third set with a pair on counter with Marsden in the mix and Pedley scoring twice in the period with the last for 7-0. Australia had four field players in at the end and the shot was saved and South African goalkeeper Oluchi McMurray fired the length of the pool to score a double goal (two points for scoring beyond the half) for 7-2 with two seconds left on the clock.
Match Heroes
Marsden with six goals; Pedley and DiGiandomenico with four apiece. Hardingham gained a hat-trick.
Stats Don’t Lie
Australia netted two from three n extra and stopped two. Australia shot 31 to 22 and scored 11 goals on counter.
Match 6, GREECE 0 RUSSIA 3 (2-5, 1-5, 2-6)
Russia made it two from two with a solid display against the eager Greeks. The first set started strongly for Russia at 3-0 before Anastasia Bikou replied for Greece. Margarita Pystina made it 5-2 and Bikou finalised the period with her second goal five seconds before the buzzer. Russian captain Olga Lupinogina took just seven seconds to start the second set. She fired in the second Russian goal with Pystina countering for 3-1. Russia rattled in two more to close the period at 5-1. Greece’s sole goal was from Georgia Karagianni on penalty. Lupinogina began the third period on counter. Bikou countered at 1:29 for 2-1 down and Ekaterina Prokofyeva countered for the 3-1 score. Bikou and Prokofyeva traded. It was Lupinogina who settled the set and the match with two counter-attacks goals in the last 16 seconds.
Match Heroes
Lupinogina and Pystina netted five goals each and Prokofyeva three for Russia. Bikou was Greece’s best with four goals.
Stats Don’t Lie
Russia scored just one from four on extra and Greece one from two. Greece missed two form three penalty chances and Russia had more shots at 28-22.
Match 7, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 3 TURKIYE 0 (6-0, 5-1, 5-0)
USA had little trouble with Turkiye, racing through all the sets but still not managing more than six goals in each. It took until 3:49 for Jenna Flynn to start the scoring. Jordan Raney, Flynn again and Neushul on counter bumped the score to 4-0. Neushul converted extra and Jewel Roemer scored a bonus penalty goal for 6-0. Kubra Kus opened for Turkiye in the second set with Roemer levelling on extra at 2:59. Neushul and Fattal combined for the next four goals for the 5-1 period. USA soared through the final set for a second victory in Dubrovnik. The last goal attempt came from goalkeeper Lauren Steele who swam into the opposition realm but had her long shot was swatted away by the keeper.
Match Heroes
Neushul with six goals and hat-tricks to Fattal and Roemer. Steele made nine saves in goal for USA. Turkiye goalkeeper Elif Aydinlik took in seven saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
USA converted four from five on extra and Turkiye one from two. USA missed the one penalty attempt. The shots favoured USA 27-22.
Match 8, CROATIA 0 SPAIN 3 (1-4, 1-5, 2-4)
Spain bounced back from its loss to USA the day before, controlling the three sets. Ariadna Ruiz began proceedings on extra at 3:42. At 1:50, Karla Popovic converted extra for 2-1 down. Isabella Piralkova fired in a five-metre shot for 3-1 and then a penalty strike for 4-1 that held until the break. Paula Camus countered to start the second set and two Alba Munoz goals helped build the margin to 5-1, the last goal coming from Camus on a cross pass to deep left. Piralkova and Carlota Penalver began the third set and more than two minutes later, she scored again, on counter. Alka Lulic scored for Croatia at 1:03 and it came down to the last second when Croatia went to a timeout and Neli Jankovic’s shot was blocked by the defence. A goal would have secured a golden-goal situation and kept Croatia in with a chance.
Match Heroes
Piralkova scored four and Penalver three while goalkeeper Mariona Terre made 11 saves for Spain.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain converted three from four on extra and stopped four from six. Spain missed one of four penalty attempts and stopped one. The shots were level at 20.
Progress Points
Russia 6, Australia 6, USA 6, Spain 3, Croatia 3, Greece 0, Turkiye 0, South Africa 0.
Day 3 Schedule
Match 09. 12:20. Russia v Turkiye
Match 10. 14:00, Australia Spain
Match 11. 15:40. United States of America v Greece
Match 12. 17:20. Croatia v South Africa