Sweden prevailed over Egypt on all scoring counts – 14-2 in kill blocks, 75-56 in spike kills and 3-1 in aces. They did, however, also commit abundant unforced errors – 23 against only nine from Egypt. Isabelle’s older sister, outside hitter and captain Anna Haak, put away 17 points, including two blocks and an ace. Her cross-court teammate Maya Tabron spiked another 15 points at a 58% success rate in attack.
“This win was really important. It was a tough tournament for us, but it’s been really fun. We got a lot of experience. It’s the first time in history, our first ever victory at the World Championships, so we wrote history in the end. Of course, we would have loved to play a better game two days ago, but I think we should be really proud of what we did,” Isabelle Haak told VBTV. “Now with volleyball growing in Sweden, we have a lot of young players and I think future generations will be better and better…”
As many as four Egyptian players reached the double digits in this game, led by outside hitter Nada Ahmed Houssameldein with a team-high 18 points. 20-year-old opposite Toqaallah Eassa, outside Mariam Metwally Mohamed Morsy (Meeto) and middle blocker Dalia Morshedy Ashraf added 14, 13 and 11 points, respectively.