Kortrijk, Belgium, May 31, 2015 – Belgium beat Finland 3-1 (29-27, 23-25, 25-16, 25-10) in the side’s FIVB World League clash on Sunday – the same scoreline that they had beaten the Finns by on Saturday.
Belgium have had the crucial edge when it mattered in the three recent meetings between these sides, and the first set of this match perfectly illustrated the point. The teams traded points evenly, before the Finns, inspired by Matti Oivanen, got ahead. But the Belgians, with Sam Deroo leading the way, saved four match points before gaining and converting their own, winning the set 29-27.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with the teams swapping points and Finland getting in front late, largely thanks to Olli-Pekka Ojansivu’s attacks. After Belgium saved another set point the Finns might have started to despair, but Silvula converted their second effort to take the set 25-23 and level the match.
But then - like yesterday – Finland seemed to tire and make errors. Belgium won set three with ease – 25-16, then were utterly dominant in the fourth to shut out that set 25-10, and the match, 3-1. Sam Deroo was the top scorer with 22 points, Olli-Pekka Ojansivu got 21 for the Finns. Read the text commentary of the game
here