Opposite spiker Nimir Abdel-Aziz fired three service aces to finish with 31 points as the Netherlands topped Germany, 22-25, 31-29, 25-23, 25-16, to rediscover its winning ways Friday in the Volleyball Nations League at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Nimir converted consecutive service aces to break the second set’s final deadlock at 29-29 for the Dutch to level.
It was also Nimir who gave the Netherlands a 2-1 set lead with a clutch kill and closed out the match with a powerful spike.
The 12th-ranked Dutch simply did not gave up, especially in the second set.
“We are happy because we didn’t play the best volleyball but we continued to fight after the first where we didn’t play good,” said Nimir, who plays in Italian club Trentino.
The Netherlands, which bounced back from a straight-set loss to Tokyo Olympics gold medalist France on Thursday to improve to 4-3, unloaded six service aces.
“I think we served okay today. We made some mistakes too much, I think,” said Nimir.
“Good thing we were good in block and defense. Today, the important thing is we didn’t stop fighting,” he added.
The Dutch had more blocks than the Germans, 15-9, with Twan Wiltenburg and Nimir combining for seven.
Gijs Jorna added 11 points, 16 digs and nine receptions while Bennie Tuinstra was other player from the Netherlands who scored in double digits with 10 points.
No. 16 Germany, which drew 25 points and seven digs from Linus Weber, fell to 3-4.
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