Ojansivu attacks again the about-to-retire captain Jose
Povoa de Varzim, Portugal, July 5, 2015 – Finland finished their participation in Pool E of the FIVB Volleyball World League 2015 on a high note, claiming a 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 18-25, 25-23) victory at Portugal. This outcome somewhat spoiled the day for the home star Joao Jose, for whom this was the last cap in his player career bidding farewell to the Portuguese national team. Olli-Pekka Ojansivu was the best scorer of the match hammering 23 points for the winning side. One short on the Portuguese side was Alexandre Ferreira.
From the very beginning of the first set Finland started to gradually build up their advantage. As many as three aces helped the Nordic team break away towards the eventual 25-18 at the end of the set. The Finns continued to prove their superiority in the second set. They were in control of the scoreboard throughout the set and comfortably won it by 25-20.
With Portugal’s national pride at stake, the home team woke up in the third set. Led by the great efforts of substitute Marcel Keller Gil, the home guys finally showed some teeth and crushed the opponent by a convincing 25-18.
The fourth set was the most interesting and most level-sided one. The battle on the court was very intense from the middle through the end. After some switches in the lead, at 23-23 it was pretty much a coin-toss. But substitute Tomi Rumpunen took the Finns to a match point first and gracefully converted it himself with an ace from the serving line.
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