3-1
Elsa and Liliana lead the FIVB World Tour series between the two teams at 3-1, but Heidrich and Zumkehr won the last meeting 2-1 (21-16, 12-21, 15-8) in a 51-minute pool play match March 9 at the 2016 Rio Grand Slam on iconic Copacabana where both the Spaniards and Swiss are probably headed in August to compete in the Summer Olympic Games.
“We are thrilled to be in another FIVB finale,” said the 31-year old Zumkehr. “We made some big plays at the end of each set to win the match, especially with Joana’s blocking. The Germans are a tough team to play because of their experience. We have played them a lot with them winning most of the time (six times), but have defeated twice this year in three meetings.”
6-3, BUT
Holtwick and Semmler entered the match with a 6-3 record against the Swiss pair with their last victory being a week after the Rio Grand Slam in Vitoria, Brazil. Two weeks ago in China, Heidrich and Zumkehr were on the winning side with a 2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-11) victory in 47 minutes at Fuzhou.
Heidrich and Zumkehr advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-1 (16-21, 21-14, 22-20) win in 56 minutes over fifth-seeded Ana Gallay and Georgina Klug of Argentina. Elsa and Liliana, who eliminated the top-seeded Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany 2-1 (18-21, 21-19, 18-16) in a 54-minute quarter-final match earlier Saturday, will be competing in their fourth FIVB World Tour finale and first since the 2014 Stavanger Grand Slam in Norway. The Spaniards are 0-3 in gold medal matches and a win Sunday over Swiss would be Spain’s first-ever women’s title on the international circuit.
UP NEXT
The final four FIVB World Tour qualifying events begin with a stop next week in Turkey (Antalya, 10-15 followed by events in the United States (Cincinnati, May 17-22), Moscow (May 24-29) and Germany (Hamburg, June 7-12). Also counting towards Olympic qualification will be the European championships June 1-5 in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.