Scotland opened their Pool A campaign impressively in the CEV European
The hosts stamped their authority on the match from the start, racing to a 4-0 lead and, with Great Britain Olympic captain Lynne Beattie demonstrating some intelligent hitting, they secured the first set 25-18.Championships Small Countries Division with a 25-18 25-10 25-19 win over Malta.
It was a similar story in the second set, Scotland establishing a 7-0 lead and leading 8-1 at the first technical time-out. The Scots were solid in the block and inventive in attack as Malta struggled to keep up with the pace and Scotland ran away with the set 25-10.
Daniela Bonnici gave Malta a glimmer of hope by scoring the first point of the third set but there was little chance of them turning the tide. It was 8-3 at the first technical time-out and an explosive hit from Beattie down the line took it to 18-12 and there was no way back for Malta, Scotland taking the set 25-19 on a service error.
Scotland head coach Craig Faill: “The first match is always difficult and you have to get that momentum or you’re always chasing the game. I was confident that if we played to our systems then we could win. A lot of things we have been working on have come through.”
Captain Jen Thom added: “It was a really good start for us as it usually takes us a couple of matches to get into our stride. A lot of the girls came on and did a good job, everyone stepped up to the mark.”
Malta coach Tibor Strajanek stated: “There wasn’t a lot of time for my players to recover after the first match but we tried. Scotland played very well and they didn’t give us a chance.”