Manila, Philippines, October 23, 2016 – Rexona-Sesc Rio defeated a defence-oriented Hisamitsu Springs in four sets; Gabriela Braga Guimaraes pointed out that Rexona need to be always tough when they play in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship, as the other squads have the best players in the world.
Gabi Guimaraes, Rexona-Sesc player: “The Japanese team was incredible. They defended all the time. They did a good job. It’s so hard to win this match today in the tie-break. So I’m so happy to finish the tournament in fifth place. They are very technical in defence and attack. We did little mistakes; we didn’t give a lot power. They won the first and fourth sets and gave us difficulty. We need to be strong all the time because this tournament has the best teams in the world, we can’t make mistakes, we can’t play bad so I learned too much playing against the best players in the world here. I’m so happy to play in this tournament and I hope we can play in Japan next year.”
Anne Buijs, Rexona-Sesc Rio player: “In the end we’re happy to be in fifth place. It was disappointing for us not to reach the semifinals but we played well yesterday. We had a nice game against Bangkok Glass and today again we know we have a very difficult opponent. Their technique is great, they have great offence and speed, so it was tough today. The fourth set was tough to lose because we had six match balls. But every time the Japanese technique came, we couldn’t stop them in their attack. From the beginning of the fifth set, we pushed a lot. We are aggressive in serves so that they couldn’t play the quick balls, so I am happy that we finished like this and have a smile on our faces.
“We haven’t been that long together. We didn’t play so many matches. We just had the Supercup in Brazil and we won. We have to get to know each other. I have to get to know the coach and the system. So for me, it’s good to play in a lot of matches on a high level and you get challenged. We have very good opponents here. Playing against (Pomi) Casalmaggiore and Eczacibasi, so you need to be in focused every time. It was good for us to play and have lots of team effort. We have really grouped together and had lots of fun, so I am happy.”
Kumi Nakada, Hisamitsu Springs Kobe coach: “We really did our best. We learned a lot in this tournament on how to get a win from teams taller and stronger than us, so we really had experience in two years in the Club World Championship. We go back to Japan and win against them.”
Miyu Nagaoka, Hisamitsu Springs Kobe captain: “First of all, we have to be more tough because they (Rexona) are so highly experienced, skilled and taller than us. We have to think about our glue, our skill, our mental toughness and everything will improve more and more.
“We just made too many mistakes in the second and third sets with the blocking. It was a little difficult to make the points because of our own mistakes.”