Antalya, Turkey, May 17, 2014. Belarus defeated Lithuania in the last, the longest, the most dramatic and probably the most beautiful match of the women’s 2014 CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Final in Antalya. The two Viktoryias, Shalayeuskaya and Siakretava, claimed the seventh place after emerging victorious with a 2:1 (21-16, 29-31, 15-9) win against Simona Vaiciukynaite / Urte Andriukaityte.
The four girls on the central court put their hearts into this game despite the fact that the seventh place does not yet guarantee them a spot in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. They engaged in spectacular rallies to create a real show for the fans and the true beauty of beach volleyball was on display for 58 minutes to the delight of the sports lovers on the stands. Particularly exciting was the ending of the second set when Lithuania managed to survive as many as seven match points for Belarus before winning it by 31-29 to prompt a tie-breaker.
To get into this seventh place final, the two Viktoryias achieved two more three-set victories in Pool H – a 48-minute 2:1 (21-23, 21-16, 15-10) against Switzerland and a 49-minute 2:1 (21-16, 17-21, 15-21) against the Netherlands. Lithuania had also played a three-setter in its pool – 2:1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-12) against Latvia, followed by a 2:0 (21-17, 21-17) win over Ukraine.
“It was our fourth game tonight and it was really hard,” Viktoryia Siakretava commented. “But we did our best. We are not in the top six, but we are not upset. It was a great tournament.”
“All the teams that we played here are very good teams,” Viktoryia Shalayeuskaya agreed. “The last game was very tough, but we knew that we needed to win. It was a good tournament for our team.”
The ninth place final was also a three-set affair. Ukraine’s Dar'ya Udovenko / Alina Demidova managed to outplay the Dutch team of Joy Stubbe / Julia Wouters by 2:1 (16-21, 21-15, 15-13) in 47 minutes of play.
Click here for photos and more detailed information on the women’s 2014 CEV Youth Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Final.