Zlín, Czech Republic, April 14, 2018. Hosts Czech Republic booked a ticket to the Gold medal match of the 2018 #EuroVolleyU18M with a win against Italy (3-2), while Germany cruised past Russia (3-0) in the second semi-final. Earlier on Saturday, Bulgaria and Belarus managed to qualify for the 2019 FIVB U19 World Championship and the European Youth Olympic Festival bound to take place in Baku in 2019 following their victories over France (3-0) and Belgium (3-1), respectively.
Live streaming of all matches is available here.
Semi-finals places 1-4
Italy vs. Czech Republic 2-3 (25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 15-25, 13-15)
As both teams took to the court in the first set, the defense of Czech Republic came unprepared for the force of the Italian attacks. The score moved to 8-2 in Italy's favour and although the Czechs managed to minimise the deficit to two points, nothing seemed to help stop the Italians, who had not lost a game in the pool phase of #EuroVolleyU18M.
The second set came as an exact opposite, as the block of the young Czechs was something unsurpassable. At 5-4 Czech Republic took the lead for the first time in the game and did not lose it until the end of the set. The middle blockers Radek Balaž and Petr Špulak were unstoppable at the net and the whole team were unite in defense.
After the score was evened at 1-1 the Azzurrini mobilised their strengths and held the game in their hands for the duration of the third set, the highlight of it being an incredible defense action by the Italian libero Damiano Catania that gave his team yet another affirmation of their capability.
The tables turned dramatically as the Italians wore a helpless frown on their faces, accompanied by a shrug from their head coach Vincenzo Fanizza, as he called for a time-out in the middle of the fourth set, when the home team was leading 13-8. The Czechs were like firework, as they dominated the game and continued doing so in the beginning of the tiebreaker as well. The score was 8-1 at the side switch, but the Czechs wore their stone faces, as they knew the game was not over yet. The Italians indeed managed a comeback that eventually lead to a 13-13 tie, but the hosts kept writing their fairy-tale #EuroVolleyU18M on home soil, seized the victory and will play for Gold on Sunday.
Jiří Mikulenka, captain and opposite of Czech Republic scored 19 points today: "This is our dream come true. We beat Italy that lost only one set during this tournament. We also had a bit of good luck, everything worked today on our side. I am extremely looking forward to final."
Vincenzo Fanizza, head coach of Italy, was a man of few words after his team's first loss of the championship: "Czech Republic played better than we did. They were better than us in every aspect of the game. Two of our players did not play very well today, so we could not play our game. Congratulations to the Czech Republic!"
Germany vs. Russia 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-18)
As the Russians made their first appearance in Zlín, they were in a fighting mood, as they were loud to cheer and set the tone in the hall as soon as the warm-up started. Both teams continued to be loud also on court during the first set, the reserve players were giving their best support to keep the well needed emotions alive. The result was even up until 14-14 in the first set; after that, the Germans marched comfortably until 21-17, but the Russians eventually rushed back and the score was 22-21 for Germany before the deciding events of the set. Germans used a little luck to their advantage and claimed the opening set 25-23.
It was 4-4 in the second set, when the Germans started to dictate their own rules and managed a rather compelling 25-13 win. This set can be characterised by a lot of errors for both teams, but the Russians took it more dramatically as the support for each other was nowhere to be found.
The third set was a little bit more intense, as team Russia gave their final efforts to stretch this game a couple of sets longer; they were in the lead shortly in the beginning of the set, but the destiny of the ticket to the finals was already decided, as Germany clinched a rather surprising 3-0 victory.
Matúš Kalný, head coach of Germany agreed: "We did not give to the opponent the chance to get into the game. We did not expect a match like this, but we prepared for them very well and everything, what we talked about before this match, including the tactical instructions, we fulfilled and won deservedly."
Mikhail Nikolaev, head coach of Russia was quiet during most of the game: "We played very bad today. Germany is physically a very strong team and maybe it was the main thing for the match today, they were strong at the net in attack and block. These are the most important elements in volleyball."
Semi-finals places 5-8
Bulgaria vs. France 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-19)
The Bulgarians, who were only two points short from qualifying to the final four of #EuroVolleyU18, started strong by showing their A-game at the net, but the Frenchmen were quick to remind their peers that you must not dwell on your success as they put on quite some resistance late in the first and throughout the second set. Bulgaria eventually got their game back in the third set and claimed a fast, but not as easy 3-0 win.
Fabien Roy, head coach of France admitted: "It was an important match for the qualification to the World Championship. This generation of players needs more experience and that is why it is so important to participate in other tournaments. We did not use some of the opportunities that Bulgaria gave us today. Tomorrow we would like to finish this tournament as best as possible."
Belarus vs. Belgium 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 26-24)
Things were pretty straight-forward in the second match of the day as the team that held the lead for most of the set took it home. Belarus were back with their power Volleyball and Belgium showcased their best serves. In the fourth set, however, the teams started playing cat and mouse as the score was tied 11 times during the final set of the game, that was eventually claimed by Belarus, who guaranteed themselves a top six finish at #EuroVolleyU18M - an unprecedented success for the nation.
Coach Aliaksei Kavaliou of Belarus, whose team earned 15 points with their block alone, could obviously praise his team: "We are very happy for today´s win. It was no easy match but our boys did what they could and it had a happy end. We hope that we will continue in this way tomorrow."
The 2018 CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship - Men will reach its eventual climax on Sunday, as the new champions will be crowned in Zlín, Czech Republic.
Click here for further information.