Spain's Andres Villena has plenty to smile about after his team's 3-1 win over Germany on Saturday
Mexico City, Mexico, June 18, 2016 - 22 points from Andres Villena gave Spain a confident 3-1 win over Germany (25-20, 26-28, 25-16, 25-17) on day two of Group 3 World League at Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera in Mexico City.
Andres Villenas scored his 22 points on 21 kills and 1 block to help Spain to a 2-0 record in the competition. The key to Spain’s win was their advantage in blocking (10-4). Germany remains winless with one point in two matches. Also contributing in Spain’s victory were Ruiz, Fornes and Fernandez with 12 points each. On Germany’s side, Daniel Malescha led with 19 points, while Reichert and Stohbach chipped in with 12 points each.
Germany took an early lead with Marcus Böhme's towering block, but it wasn’t long before Spain’s leading spikers, Andre Villena and Francisco got into the rhythm to give their team a comfortable 15-10 lead. Germany went on slowly winning points and improving their defence, while Moritz Reichert and Böhme were successful attacking. This was not enough to catch up with the Spanish team, however, as Spain never stopped pushing and snatched the opener, 25-20.
The second set started with both teams spiking hard and the score remained close up until the second technical time-out when Germany led 16-14 thanks to Spain’s unforced errors. Reichert and Malescha scored with solid kills, while Spain made several substitutions keeping the score close. Finally, the balance was tipped in Germany’s favour giving them the second set, 28-26.
The match was tight again in set three. Villena and Fernandez scoring on two consecutive spikes and one defence error by Germany put Spain in the lead, 12-9. Despite the spiking efforts of Germany's Mortiz Reighert and Tom Stohback, Spain’s blocking was crucial in their comfortable advantage. Ruiz finished the set at 25-16 with a powerful kill.
Spain’s spikers continued their inspired performance as they jumped to an early 6-2 lead in set four. Germany’s Malescha and Kühner reacted quickly to put Germany on top 9-8 and up to the second technical time-out the set was a nailbiter. Spain’s biggest star, Andres Villena, scored twice in a row to give his team a four-point lead at 20-16. Ruiz and Fornes also did their bit in attack to hand Spain the fourth set, 25-17, and an overall 3-1 victory in the match.
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