Estonia's blockers contributed 13 points to the straight-set victory over Venezuela
Tallinn, Estonia, June 10, 2017 -
Andrus Raadik piled up as many as five kill blocks to help
Estonia shut out
Venezuela in an FIVB Volleyball World League match played in Tallinn on Saturday afternoon.
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This was a historic first match between these two nation and the head-to-head account now stands open at 1-0 victories to Estonia.
The visiting team started vigorously and after an ace from
Fernando Gonzalez they had a 5-2 lead. A successful first tempo, performed by
Jonathan Quijada, gave Venezuela an 8-6 edge for the first technical time-out. The home side took their first lead in the score after
Ardo Kreek’s block for 10-9. A little bit later the middle blocker surprised the opponents with a soft serve and gave his team a 16-12 edge. Two straight errors in Estonia’s attack let Venezuela reduce the gap to 15-16, but Robert Taht answered with magnificent block and ace. The South American team still found the answer and levelled the score at 19 each. Then it was again Kreek’s time to shine. Two power blocks did not let Venezuela take the lead and after an ace from
Oliver Venno Estonia was in the driving seat towards a 25-21 win.
The second set was opened by two straight blocks from
Andri Aganits. After a successful spike from the middle blocker Estonia led by 4-1. Two more blocks gave Estonia an 8-4 edge. By that time the hosts had eight blocking points and Venezuela still searched for their first one. An ace from Taht moved Estonia to a comfortable 15-9 lead and the wing spiker also closed the set in the same style making it 25-16.
The third set was quite even through 14-14. After that Estonia made a 7-1 run and sailed away to a 25-19 close and a 3-0 victory.