06/05/2016 22:12
Swedish women claim two straight wins over Denmark en route to European qualifier
News from the National Federations
Örebro, Sweden, May 6, 2016. The Swedish women’s national team is currently preparing for the upcoming first qualification round of the 2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship. On Friday late afternoon the Swedes clashed with their fellow neighbours from Denmark in a friendly match, which the hosts eventually claimed by 3-1 after a close battle.
“I am pleased with our performance. This is something we can build on,” Sweden head coach Ismo Peltoarvo said after the match.
Rebecka Lazic (pictured) – who spent the 2015-2016 season in Italy playing for Neruda Volley Sudtirol BOLZANO – was named the Most Valuable Player of the match after putting up an impressive performance, blocking down her opponents and unleashing some devastating spikes.
The friendly, which represented the opening ceremony of the so-called Mikasa Challenge, Sweden largest Volleyball youth tournament, gathered a crowd of about 2,000, thereby creating a fantastic atmosphere in the fully packed Idrottshuset arena in Örebro.
The same teams had challenged each other also the day before, and this had resulted in the first of two consecutive Swedish victories in as many days.
The matches were interesting in many aspects, and especially because Sweden and Denmark will face each other again when both teams travel to Estonia for the first qualification round scheduled for May 20-22 on the way to the next European Championship, which is due to be held in Azerbaijan and Georgia in 2017.
Since last weekend the Swedish team has been in a training camp, working on the team spirit, going through tactics and studying the upcoming opponents. Coach Peltoarvo is satisfied with what the team has shown since his players have come together: “I believe in this team. We have a lot of interesting players with great potential. In fact, I am not sure if we have ever had a group as talented as this through the history of women’s Volleyball in Sweden.”
Picture courtesy Ruben Lamers
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