The Netherlands beat South Korea 3-1 (25-19, 25-14, 22-25, 25-20) in the Rio Games women's volleyball quarterfinals at Maracanazinho Tuesday morning to secure their first ever Olympic semifinal appearance.

South Korean captain Kim Yeon-Koung had a match-high 27 points, including 25 spikes and two blocks, but the more balanced Dutch offense earned them the victory. Lonneke Sloetjes, Judith Pietersen and Anne Buijs scored 23, 17 and 15 points, respectively and Robin de Kruijf added 10.

The Dutch women, whose best previous finish at the Olympic Games was a fifth in Atlanta in 1996, produced a total of 12 aces during the match, compared to only three of South Korea.

"I am elated after this match, the most important of our careers for coaches and players," said the Netherlands' Italian coach Giovanni Guidetti. "When you win in the quarterfinals at the Olympics it means that for the next two days the whole world will have the eyes on you battling for the medals. You can't compare that with any other tournament."

"I want to thank my players and my staff for a wonderful job. Our players now believe they can beat any big team in the world," Guidetti added. "Today they came back with confidence to win the fourth set after losing the third by close margin. It was a team win, a team effort."

The Netherlands, who had beaten World Cup winners and runners-up China and Serbia in the pool stage, will play in Thursday's semifinals against the winners between Brazil and China in the last quarter-final match scheduled on Tuesday evening. Enditem

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