Lucerne, Switzerland, May 16, 2015 - The seventh and final day of women’s Beach Volleyball competition in the US$150,000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Lucerne Open 2015 will be an All-European gold medal affair Sunday after the pairs of Karla Borger/Britta Buthe of Germany and Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands netted semifinals wins here Saturday on the Lido center court.
The inaugural Lucerne Open ends Sunday with the men’s semi-finals starting at 11 a.m. (local time) with the medal matches starting at 2 p.m. beginning with the women’s third-place match where pairs from Austria and Canada will seek a spot on the Lido podium along with the Dutch and German ladies. The women’s title match is scheduled for 4:20 p.m.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Sunday’s gold medal meeting will be the second match between the two teams with Meppelink and Van Iersel defeating the Germans 2-0 (26-24, 21-19) last July in the United States at Long Beach. The match will also be the second FIVB title match between the two countries as the Dutch bested the Germans in a 2003 world tour finale in China (Lianyungang) as Rebekka Kadijka and Marrit Leenstra scored a 2-1 (21-15, 17-21, 15-13) win over Susanne Lahme and Danja Musch.
GERMAN GALLERY
The fourth-seeded Borger and Buthe advanced to their third FIVB World Tour final by guaranteeing their fourth international medal by posting a 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 16-14) win in 55 minutes over 23rd-seeded Barbara Hansel/Stefanie Schwaiger of Austria. It was the second-straight world tour win for the Germans over the Austrians as Borger and Buthe defeated Hansel and Schwaiger last September in the Brazilian Grand Slam at Sao Paulo.
Playing in their 44th FIVB World Tour event together, Borger and Buthe hope Sunday’s finale will be successful as the Germans placed second in their previous two FIVB World Tour gold medal matches in 2013 at the world championships in Poland and last season in the Swiss Grand Slam in Gstaad.
“We are hoping that the third time is the charm,” said the 26-year old Borger. “We have been close twice, but winning this time would be great because we have a lot of family and friends here this week,” said Buthe, who is also 26. “Whoever we play, it will be a tough match. There is never any easy final as both teams always try to play their best.”
Borger and Buthe advanced to the semi-finals by defeating ninth-seeded Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova of Russia 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) in a 37 minute match earlier Saturday.
DUTCH DANDIES
Meppelink and Van Iersel, who will be the top-seeded team in the 2015 FIVB “senior” World Championships that start at the end of June at four locations in The Netherlands, advanced to their first-ever FIVB World Tour gold medal match by scoring a 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 15-12) win in 55 minutes over 10th-seeded Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas of Canada. It was the third meeting between the two teams as Canadians had won the last meeting in September at Sao Paulo.
Guaranteed their third world tour medal in this their 12th FIVB event together, both Meppelink and Van Iersel will be looking for another world tour gold medal. Van Iersel captured international gold twice in 2011 with Sanne Keizer at stops in Shanghai and Myslowice, Poland. Meppelink teamed with Sophie van Gestel for a gold medal at a 2013 stop in Corrientes, Argentina.
Meppelink and Van Iersel, who handed the Canadians their first match setback in 13 matches this season, eliminated Carolina Horta and Liliane Maestrini of Brazil 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) in a 34-minute quarter-final match.
“We are glad to be playing in the finals for the first time,” said Meppelink. “The Canadians were tough and never quit,” said Van Iersel. “They are an improved team and really played well in the first set. We became more consistent as the match progressed and were able to build an early lead in the third set. They made a comeback, but we were able to maintain the lead.”