Hamburg, Germany, August 25, 2017 - Nina Betschart and Tanja Hüberli complete a "sweep" of the opening two women's matches for Switzerland here Friday morning at the US$800,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals by eliminating a Czech Republic team from the Rothenbaum Stadium competition.
Minutes after compatriots Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) win in 34 minutes over Americans Lauren Fendrick and April Ross of the United States the 12th-seeded Betschart and Hüberli ousted eighth-seeded Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilova of Czech Republic with a 2-0 (21-14, 24-22) win in 36 minutes.
The Betschart/Hüberli's victory avenged a 2-0 (22-20, 21-10) win by Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova Thursday over the ninth-seeded Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré in a Pool A match.
While the match was the first FIVB World Tour meeting for Betschart/Hüberli against the Czech pair, Kolocova/Kvapilova had played the Swiss pair three times on the European circuit. The last match was in the elimination rounds last week at the continental championships in Latvia where Kolocova/Kvapilova won in three sets.
With Kolocova and Kvapilova placing ninth and sharing $15,000 in earnings at the third annual event, Betschart and Hüberli will play third-seeded Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan of Canada at 3 p.m. Friday with the winners of that match advancing to the evening's women's semi-finals.