Toronto, Canada, September 14, 2016 - Newly-crowned Swiss national champions Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre opened play here Wednesday at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals by defeating 2015 Asian champions Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy of Australia in two sets on the Polson Pier side court.
With their 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) Pool A win in 29 minutes over the Australian pair, Forrer and Verge-Depre now hold a 4-3 edge in the FIVB World Tour series between the two teams.
The two teams conclude group action Thursday against American Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medal winners April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings. The Swiss dropped a three-set pool play match to the Americans on Copacabana while the Aussies were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ross and Walsh Jennings.
Bawden and Clancy are 0-5 against Ross and Walsh Jennings while Forrer and Verge-Depre are 0-4.
Anouk Verge-Depre - “I think we found our rhythm in passing and setting, and good attack action, and that put pressure on their side. We had some good serves and they also had some good serves, but in the end we had our sideout. At the beginning of the season we didn’t think we’d be here in Toronto. It’s a great tournament and we enjoy being here. If we play our game we are hard to play.”
Taliqua Clancy - “We always have really good games with them, we know that we have to be at our best. We are here to enjoy the experience. We know that we can bring a high level, I think it was just first-game nerves after having a long time off after the Olympics. We’re going to need to bring more service pressure against Kerri and April.”