The only sister act of this European Championship Beach Volleyball is still in the tournament. Anouk and Zoë Vergé-Depré from Switzerland ended third in Pool C.
The first match of the day in The Hague for the Swiss sisters Vergé-Depré was supposed to be an exciting one. They faced the Dutch team Sinnema/Bloem, who also won it’s first match of the tournament. Winning should be a big step forward to the next round.
Sinnema/Bloem started the first set very strong. Jolien Sinnema showed her good block skills. She made several block points at the start of the match. Combined with some amazing saves from Laura Bloem, resulted in a big advantage. At 16-8, the Suisse team found some new energie, but it wasn’t enough to win the first set. With a score of 21-14, the first set was won by Sinnema and Bloem, who are only since this season together in a team.
Anouk and Zoë Vergé-Depré started the second set a lot better. It was a much more exciting set. The The Swiss girls knew better how to attack without being blocked by the strong playing Sinnema. Because of some great defences by Bloem and some tactical shots the Dutch girls kept a small advantage for the complete set. With a score of 21-17, Sinnema/Bloem won the second set and the match.
The Swiss team thought they put too less pressure on the serve this match, but they saw that they became better and better this tournament. “We are getting more used to the movements of each other”, said Anouk Vergé-Depré, the oldest of the two sisters. “We should delete this match out of our minds and we should give some more pressure on our serve.”
After the loss earlier this day, Anouk and Zoë should find some of the energie back again for the match in the evening. “This was an easier preparation than for the first match. We already played a match, so we already have a rhythm,” said Zoë just before the match. Full of confidence both sisters said that they are completely ready for the match against the Ukrainian girls Davidova and Shchypkova.
The first set started quite exciting, but at the end of the set Davidova and Shchypkova managed to get a bigger advantage. They won the first set with a score of 21-16. Anouk and Zoë struggled with the service and the strong block of the tall Shchypkova. The second set was a little bit more exciting, but the Swiss sisters could still not manage to win. They said after the match that their service was again not strong enough. The Ukrainian team won the second set with a score of 21-18 and thus won the match.
The Vergé-Depré’s were a bit disappointed directly after the match. “We expected we could become second in this group”, said Zoë. “But of course we are happy we succeeded to the next round”. Their goal for the rest of the tournament? “Performing better than we did so far”, said Anouk. And the most important thing for both girls: “It’s fun playing together.”
