Highlights From Day One Of The Montreux Volley Masters

Top seeds China and Brazil emerged from the first day of competition at the 2017 Montreux Volley Masters with victories over Switzerland and Poland, respectively.
 
China took on the host team, securing a straight-set victory 25-15, 25-16, 25-16. The reigning gold medalist set the tone on defense, out-blocking Switzerland 17 to 3 and out-digging the Swiss 38 to 32, with Gong Xiangyu leading the team with six blocks.
 
Xiangyu Gong and Jing Li led China with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Switzerland’s Maja Storck put away a match-high 13 points, with Laura Kunzler contributing 10.
 
Brazil defeated Poland 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 26-24) to kick the Montreux Volley Masters event off with a victory. In the back-and-forth battle, Brazil out-dug Poland 66 to 43, but the Poles led in the blocking column 14 to 11.
 
Tandara Caixeta of Brazil led the match with 21 points, while Natalia Pereira contributed 17. Poland’s top point scorers were Natalia Medrzyk with 19 and Malwina Smarzek with 18.
 
In the final match of the day, Netherlands and Argentina traded punches all the way to five sets, with Argentina ultimately earning the victory 25-22, 27-25, 14-25, 23-25, 15-9.
 
The South American team far out-dug its European opponent, scoring 85 digs to the Netherlands’ 59. Paula Yamila Nizetich led Argentina with 21 points, while the Netherlands’ star outside hitter Celeste Plak led the match with 24.
 
Tomorrow, Thailand will take on Poland, China will face the Netherlands, and Germany takes the court for the first time versus Brazil.
 
Watch all the action live right here on FloVolleyball, starting at 10:30 AM ET.