Clear victories for leaders GZC Donk and De Zaan. Thrills at ZVL Het Ravijn.
In the last round before the winter break, the undefeated leaders of the Eredivisie women did not hold back. GZC Donk comfortably defeated UZSC, while ZV De Zaan outperformed De Ham. The water polo team of Het Ravijn clinched a thrilling victory against ZVL in Leiden. The Eredivisie will resume after the New Year.
De Ham - ZV De Zaan 23-8 (2-6, 3-12, 7-18, 8-23)
The water polo team of De Zaan concluded their successful 2024 calendar year with a convincing win in the local derby against De Ham: 23-8. De Ham took the lead twice in the early stages at Crommenije, but the tension quickly dissipated. Both coaches provided ample opportunity for their young players to grow. The majority of the goals, however, were scored by the more experienced players. Nerida Drewes (6), Maud Koopman (4), and Lieke Rogge (4) scored prolifically for De Zaan. Veterans Amy Rozemeijer and Lizette Rozeboom each scored three times for De Ham. Coach Koen de Weerd's team is currently second to last with three points from five matches. Mick van de Bree's team is in second place with 13 points from five matches, just behind GZC Donk, who has played one more match.
GZC Donk - UZSC 16-7 (4-2, 8-4, 12-7, 16-7)
In Gouda, the league match took place between the recent cup finalists, GZC Donk and UZSC. The Gouda team was clearly the strongest at home, winning 16-7. The team from Utrecht kept up with the title contenders for a period and a half. Towards the end of the second quarter, GZC Donk surged ahead from 5-4 to 8-4. That gap proved decisive. UZSC continued to work hard for the best possible result, but the opposition had far too much quality to break the game at the Groenhovenbad. Star player Sterre Bijkerk excelled for UZ with six goals. On the other side, Marit van der Weijden had a strong performance with five goals. GZC Donk leads the Eredivisie with only two points dropped. UZSC is currently in third place with twelve points from six matches. The current fourth-placed team, Polar Bears, has two matches in hand.
ZVL - Het Ravijn 8-9 (1-3, 3-5, 4-7, 8-9)
Top-tier teams ZVL and Het Ravijn engaged in an exciting battle at De Vliet pool. Iris Vreeling put the guests from Nijverdal ahead after less than three minutes. ZVL stayed close throughout the match, coming close to equalizing a few times, but Sander Roelofs' team never relinquished their early lead. Esmee Kraaibeek was the top scorer for ZVL with three excellent goals. Jolijn Joor and Tess van der Meer each scored two goals. Van der Meer stated, "As a team, we gave it our all. Today, Het Ravijn was slightly stronger. We will work on the areas needing improvement, and I'm confident we will make even more progress after the winter break so that we can compete with the top 4 in the Eredivisie." Pien Gorter scored two goals for the Nijverdal team. The rest of the goals were evenly distributed across the team, with Annefleur ten Bloemendaal, Susan de Vries, Margreet ter Schuure, Amy Kleinlugtebeld, Kari Ankoné, Kim Okoli, and Iris Vreeling each contributing a goal. ZVL and Het Ravijn both head into the winter break with six points from six matches.
