Giovanni Guidetti hopes to have more to celebrate with the Dutch
The Hague, the Netherlands, August 4, 2015 – The Netherland’s volleyball players celebrated their victory in Group 2 of the FIVB World Grand Prix after coach Giovanni Guidetti’s team claimed a commanding 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-16) over hosts Poland in the 125th and leading annual women’s competition.
Lonneke Slöetjes was top scorer in the final clash with 19 points for the Dutch, while Anne Buijs added 16 kills to ensure eight wins from eight matches in the 2015 World Grand Prix.
Guidetti was in high demand after the win, which capped a successful first season in charge of the team.
“I have great respect for them, because my team played so well tonight,” the Italian said. “We all started together on May 18 and have not had much time to rest since then. It is now August 2 and we have worked so very hard in the meantime. Now we have won, we know why we made all those sacrifices.”
After eight successful years in Germany, with two silver medals at the European Championships, the coach who led Vakifbank Istanbul to the Club World Championship title took on a new challenge. After the FIVB World Grand Prix, the Dutch are also focused on the European Championship on home soil and qualifying for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
“I am extremely pleased with the volleyball the team played in the final,” Guidetti added. “Everyone wanted to win and the team was very motivated. It may seem easy, but it certainly was not. But the team played with such intensity and class today that any team in the world could have lost against us tonight.
“We will play in Group 1 of the World Grand Prix next year. That is important for this team, because if you want to get better, you have to play against the best teams. The matches against the United States, China, Russia and others will show where we stand. But I think this team can be world leaders.”