‘Starters’ Thyss to heaven and hell… Netherlands lose to Slovenia in hard-fought battle

It’s been a rollercoaster day for Tyss. The team suffered a three-game sweep and ended up with a sad ending.

The Netherlands had a shaky start to their FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2024 (VNL) Week 1 match at the Antalya Sports Hall in Turkuye on May 22 local time, losing to Slovenia in straight sets 2-3 (33-31, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-27). The underdogs, who were down 43% to 57% in the pre-match AI-provided expected win rate, missed a chance at an upset.

The Dutch starting lineup featured some familiar names to V-League fans. Outside hitter Tice Dulghost, who played for Samsung Fire and KEPCO, was the host. Tais, who ended her two-year V-League career by not reapplying for the 2024 Korea Volleyball Organization (KOVO) Foreign Player Tryouts, was the starting outside hitter on the night.

The two teams battled from the first set. More precisely, it was a back-and-forth battle that saw the lead change hands until the deuce, and then a slugfest with errors on both sides of the court. In the process, Thiess didn’t fare too well. 안전 토토사이트 He basically struggled with Slovenia’s targeted serves, and at 27-27, he made an unforced error on his serve.

A long first set that saw both teams reach 30 points apiece ended in favor of the Dutch. At 31-31, a sharp attack from Nimir Abdel-Aziz was followed by a kill from Tineh Urnat, and the Dutch took the first set in hard-fought fashion. It was a high-tempo set as both teams combined for 20 unforced errors.

After a slow start in the first set, Thais came out firing in the second set with good serving. At 3-1, she shook off Yani Kovacic’s reception with a strong serve to set up Marten van Galderen’s direct attack. However, he still struggled to find the target in his reception. This didn’t matter too much in the early stages of the set, when the team’s lead was relatively comfortable, but even at 13-11, when the lead was reduced, the team’s shaky reception allowed Allen Fayenk to score on a direct attack.

Thys still looked shaky at 14-13 when she dropped her serve, and a subsequent attack from Van Galderen was also dropped, giving the Dutch the lead. The rest of the set was much like the first. The two teams battled back and forth for every point, and the score was tied at 20 apiece. In the second set, it was Tonchek Stern who stole the show. At 23-22, she scored the decisive point with a two-handed push that was a beat late with a three-block in front of her, including Tice.

Then, at 24-22, a faltering Tyss reception led to a high-ball situation and a Nimir error that sealed the second set in Slovenia’s favor. In the end, Tais’s reception, which was already shaky when the lead was so large, became a liability.

In the third set, with so much at stake, Nimir’s serve proved to be the dominant force. At 9-7, his back-to-back service points quickly swung the momentum in favor of the Dutch. Nimir was on fire on offense and in complete control of the court, while Thys responded with a much improved reception and sharper pipes compared to the previous sets. Tyss then came alive with a powerful serve at 18-15, and the Netherlands took the third set 25-20, thanks to the efforts of both players.

As if the tiebreak was over, Thiem broke serve in the fourth set. At 4-4, he landed a serve that fell between Tine Urnat and Kovacic. However, the team was crushed by Jan Kozmernik’s overwhelming all-around presence, and Tais’ reception anxiety was once again on display when the team went down. At 7-13, the space between Andringa and Thyss was exposed by Gregor Lopret’s serve, and it became a double. Head coach Roberto Piazza then pulled Thais and brought on Tom Koops, who did not reenter the match and the fourth set ended in Slovenia’s favor, 25-21.

Tyss was back in the starting lineup for the fifth set, but was hit with a targeted serve from the start, with Kozmernik’s serve at 0-1 shaking Tyss’ reception and Tonchek Stern’s direct attack. Instead, a left-handed attack at 2-3 was saved. The Netherlands took the lead at 5-5 on an attack error by Urnat and a net fight win by Nimir, and reached eight points for the first time on a Flack kill.

Shortly after the court change, Tice’s clutch side blocking, a staple of his in the V-League, was on display. A clean block of an Urnat attack made it 9-6, but the Slovenians were not done. A neutralizing three-block attack from Cevul tied the score at 11-11, and the game remained tightly contested from there, ultimately setting up a decisive fifth set deuce.

At 16-16, a two-step connection error by Thyss gave Slovenia a chance to close out the match, but Kozmernik’s service error on Thierry’s serve prolonged the contest. The Thais took a breather at 17-18, making up for shaky reception with skillful offense. The two teams traded points past the 20-point mark and broke through the 25-point mark side-by-side, but it was Slovenia’s turn to win. At 26-25, Toncek Stern’s serve broke through.

After a night of heaven and hell, Tice’s final destination was unfortunately closer to hell. His final stats for the day were 14 points, including two blocks and three service points, 30.77% attack efficiency, and 19.44% receive efficiency. It was neither a very good nor a very bad performance. However, it was a day of ups and downs in terms of sets, and in the end, the team lost.