13/09/2016 09:53
Finland women feel “no limits”
2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Women
Kisakallio, Finland, September 13, 2016. As Finland men’s national team will be aiming to secure their sixth consecutive appearance in the Final Round of the CEV Volleyball European Championship, the women from the Nordic country are hoping to follow in the footsteps of their countrymen and join the EuroVolley finals for the first time in 28 years.
The last time Finland played in the Final Round of the women’s EuroVolley was in 1989 when the championship was held in West Germany. Finland finished the competition in twelfth place, after losing all of the seven matches they contested there. The only Finnish victory in the finals of a European Championship dates to 1977 when the Finns beat West Germany while hosting the championship on home soil, and more specifically in the city of Kotka.
One of the players who played 28 years ago in West Germany, former setter Mariliisa Salmi, is now with the group again – this time acting as Team Manager.
At the moment Finland’s women feel “no limits”, as their motto says.
“I feel we have more options available than in previous years for all positions, especially for the outside. We are getting closer to the peak for our players born in the early ‘90s. I think most of our players will be ready to play in European-quality teams in one to three years,” head coach Tapio Kangasniemi says.
Kangasniemi himself played in the Final Round of the men’s EuroVolley in 2007, when Finland achieved their best ever performance by finishing fourth in Moscow. Now his goal with the women’s national team is clear.
“Our goal is to reach the CEV Volleyball European Championship finals, but it is not our only goal. We want to look further ahead with these players and with the whole Finnish women’ Volleyball community,” Kangasaniemi adds.
Last season Laura Pihlajamäki won the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup with Romania’s C.S.M. BUCURESTI and was eventually chosen as Finland’s Player of the Year across both genders. With her leading role in the team, younger players like the only 16-year-old opposite Suvi Kokkonen are ready to follow in her footsteps.
Finland won all of their five test matches before this second round of EuroVolley qualifications. They beat Israel three times at the Olympic Centre in Kuortane and Portugal twice in Salo.
Finland will play in Pool C the national teams of Poland, Hungary and Estonia. The two second-round qualifiers will be played in Erd, Hungary this coming weekend and in Bielsko Biala, Poland one week later.
Team Finland will be composed as it follows:
Setters: Kaisa Alanko, Katja Kylmäaho
Liberos: Saana Koljonen, Roosa Koskelo
Middle Blockers: Laura Pihlajamäki, Daniela Öhman, Roosa Laakkonen, Michaela Bjärregård-Madsen
Outside Hitters: Noora Kosonen, Pauliina Vilponen (C), Salla Karhu, Ronja Heikkiniemi
Opposites: Suvi Kokkonen, Piia Korhonen
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