The Netherlands continued to thrive without star spiker Nimir Abdel-Aziz, securing its second straight win at the expense of Romania, 25-23, 26-24, 26-24, to strengthen its Round of 16 bid on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It wasn’t a walk in the park, but the young and hungry Dutch spikers, ranked No. 18 in the world, still pulled off the straight-sets victory in one hour and 38 minutes to remain unbeaten in Pool B at 2-0.
The Netherlands is virtually assured of a Round of 16 berth barring any major upset from Qatar, which it previously defeated, 25-18, 25-23, 26-28, 25-23. At press time, Qatar was battling world No. 1 Poland.
Poland (1-0) also notched a 34-32, 25-15, 25-19 victory on Day 2 against the winless Romania (0-2).
Wingers Michiel Ahyi and Tom Koops once again carried the scoring load with 14 and 13 points, respectively, smoothly filling in for long-time leader Abdel-Aziz, who is still recovering from injury.
Yannick Bak added seven points, while middle blockers Cornelius Luuc van Der Ent and Fabian Blak chipped in five each for the Dutch, who will battle Poland on Wednesday for the Pool B top seed.
“We played great as a team even though we were behind in pretty much every set,” said the 6-foot-5 opposite spiker Ahyi, breathing a sigh of relief after the Netherlands edged Romania by two points in every frame, including deuces in the last two.
“It’s huge. It’s a great job from the team sticking together. Now we have Poland in two days, but I think the biggest focus is just on the game right now. So yeah, we’re hyped.”
The Dutch indeed needed to summon their composure, showing grit despite their youth against world No. 24 Romania, which entered the match in high spirits after nearly stealing a set from VNL champion Poland in a marathon 34-32 opener.
Ahyi and Koops steered the rally as the Netherlands, still reeling from its VNL demotion last summer, overturned a 7-10 deficit in the first set and a 12-16 hole in the second before sealing both frames by the slimmest of margins for a commanding 2-0 lead.
In the third, the Dutchmen were more in control, though not by much, until Romania’s back-to-back errors gifted them the closing points in another escape act.
Bela Florian Bartha and Rares Balean tallied 14 and 12 points, respectively, but Romania absorbed its second straight defeat—both in straight sets—and now stares at an early elimination unless Qatar pulls off a miracle against Poland.
Romania will close its Manila campaign against Qatar on Wednesday at the same venue.
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