Luxembourg, August 24, 2018. Over the weekend 24 #EuroVolleyM teams will step onto the court set to earn the wins and valuable points they need to secure their ticket to the Finals taking place in 2019 in France, Slovenia, Belgium and The Netherlands. Iceland, Georgia and Luxembourg will be trying to use the home-court advantage to secure their first wins in the competition and thus keep the hope of reaching the Finals alive, before the qualification round goes on a break and is set to return in early January 2019. You can follow the matches via the live streams on Laola1.tv or through social media using the hashtag #EuroVolleyM.

Pool A

Romania vs. Finland

•    The second home match, and last for this year, for the Romanian team will take place again in Craiova.
•    Romania won their first two matches in the pool and the upcoming ‘Clash of the Titans’ will determine the provisional leaders of the group.  
•    The home crowd will try to help their team reach the third and most important victory in Pool A.



Laurentiu Lica, captain of Romania: “We all share the same great desire to qualify for a major tournament after so many years. We played really good earlier this week in Finland and we have developed into a competitive team.”

Danut Pascu, head coach of Romania: “We are facing a tough team and we have to play much better than we did in the last match in Finland. We will fight for the victory. I am really willing to secure our qualification to the European Championship.”

Pool B

Israel vs. Estonia

•   These two teams locked horns on Wednesday already, when Estonia claimed a home victory in straight sets.
•   This is a very important game for the Israeli team; a victory would even the scores as Estonia is one victory ahead in the current pool standings.
•   The home team is ready for the challenge and will try to perform to the best of their abilities to surprise the Estonians, the winners of the 2018 Golden European League.
•    Currently the Estonians top the charts with two victories in as many matches while Israel boast an away victory over Latvia and lost on Wednesday to Estonia in Tallinn.
•    Last Wednesday Israel caught a promising start to the match but their low success rate in attack at the end of the match (30%) could not compete with the figures (50%) registered by Estonia, who found in their opposite Oliver Venno (19 points) the ‘man of the match’. Tamir Hershko set the pace for Israel with 12 points and 43% success rate in attack.
•    Estonia have competed in four of the last five European Championships and have participated in the World League as well. This is a highly experienced team with players from the top leagues in Europe, including Turkish, Belgian, Polish and German, as well as the Italian sub-division.
•    The Israeli national team last appeared in the European Championship Finals in 1971, when they finished 12th out of 22 teams as the Soviet Union won their fourth title. The Israelis were tenth and last in 1951, while in 1967 they finished eleventh in a field of 20 teams.

Grzegorz Rys, head coach of Team Israel: “It was very difficult to play away from home and in front of a full house. We tried to win a set or two but we did not succeed in doing so. It was a very important experience for us because we did not play that many preparation games and certainly not a preparation game against a team as strong as Estonia. Sometimes we played well in Estonia, but they raised their level at the end of the first and second sets. I hope we will play better and better in the next game, as we are fighting for a place in the European Championship; for us the most important game is the last qualifying match in January in Latvia.”

Pool C

Iceland vs. Montenegro

•    Montenegro are on top of Pool C after two wins over Iceland and Slovakia and a loss to Moldova.
•    The Icelandic team is at the bottom of Pool C with not a single set won.
•    The two teams met in Montenegro only a few days ago with the hosts claiming a comprehensive 3-0 victory.
•    On that occasion, the top scorer for Montenegro was Marko Vukasinovic with 14 points. Andreas Hilmir Halldórsson was the top scorer of the Icelandic team with seven points.



Hafsteinn Valdimarsson, captain of Iceland: “We have been improving our performance with every match and our last match against Montenegro was our best one. We are excited for the last match of this leg and we want to end this on a good note.”

Veljko Basic, head coach of Montenegro: “We are ready for the match tomorrow. This is an important match for us, we have a lot of respect for the Icelandic team and we will start the match with our six strongest players.”

Republic of Moldova vs. Slovakia

•    Moldova play their third match ever against Slovakia. The first match between these two teams came last year during the qualifications for the 2018 World Championship held in the Netherlands where Moldova lost 0-3. The second matchup followed this past Wednesday in Nitra where Slovakia again won in three straight sets.
•    Moldovan middle blocker Vladimir Stelmah is still out because of a knee injury. Unfortunately, Moldova’s setter Marin Lescov suffered an injury in the last match in Nitra and his appearance on the court is doubtful.
•    Slovakia rank second at this moment in Pool C, with Montenegro leading the way. Moldova and Iceland sit in third and fourth place, respectively.
•    This is the second #EuroVolleyM match to take place in Futsal Arena in Chisinau - the newest sport hall in Moldova complying with CEV standards. About 1,000 spectators are looking forward to an attractive game.

Pool D

Albania vs. Croatia

•    Anton Qafarena is the best scorer of Albania in these qualifiers with 66 points, while for Croatia the most prolific player this far has been Leo Andrić with 42 points.
•    Three days ago, in the first game between these two teams, Croatia won 3-1 on home soil in Zagreb.
•    Albania and Croatia share the same record with one win and two losses this far.
•    The Albanian men’s national team participated in the #EuroVolley qualifiers for the last time five years ago, in 2013.



Gazmend Husaj, team captain of Albania: “The matches played so far in our group have shown that the four teams are quite equal although Portugal lead the way with three wins. I think everything is open in terms of qualification for all teams and every match is important to achieve this goal. I think that Albania, which has a team with many young men, can put up a fight until the end to qualify. Therefore, this match with Croatia is extremely important, as we can win and be again in the race to achieve our ultimate goal.”

Austria vs. Portugal

•    Austrian Volleyball fans and especially those living in Zwettl can prepare for a spectacle as Austria host Portugal in the fourth leg of the #EuroVolleyM qualifiers. Portugal recently claimed a spot in the 2019 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League and they are leading the way in the pool with three wins in as many matches.
•    In the first leg on Wednesday in Braga, the high quality of the Portuguese side was evident. Without injured star player Alexander Berger, Austria lost in three straight sets. In front of the home crowd, the Austrian team wants to strike back on Saturday.
•    With 74 points so far, Paul Buchegger has been one of the best scorers in the European qualifiers this far. Only Former Y.R. of Macedonia’s Nikola Gjorgiev is ahead of Austria’s most improved player of the year in the overall stats.

Austria head coach Michael Warm: “We work hard in the rallies, but are not able to convert our points and reap the fruits of our work. The home crowd in Zwettl will be crucial and can make the difference this time!”

Georgia vs. Belarus

•   The New Volleyball Arena in Tbilisi will host two matches on Saturday as the Georgian women's National team will face France, while the men lock horns with Belarus.
•    All four teams arrived in Tbilisi on Friday morning and have acquainted themselves with the sports hall in their respective training sessions.
•    Georgia lost in Belarus, but hope to use the home-court advantage to make amends for that loss. Belarus have a record of three wins in as many matches this far to lead the standings of the pool, while Georgia have lost three in a row.

Viktar Beksha, coach of Belarus: “Despite the confident win at home, on Saturday we will be trying to show our best game again. We respect our opponent and we know that they will be more confident tomorrow because they play in front of their fans. That is why we will prepare for tomorrow’s match very seriously.”

Sulkhan Akhvlediani, coach of Georgia: “Belarus are a team that can play at a really high level while our team is a really new one and my players are young. We hope that we will learn a lot from this match and our level will get higher and higher in future. Of course we will try to show our best tomorrow because we suppose our women’s team will be doing just the same earlier in the afternoon.”

Pool F

Switzerland vs. F. Y. R. of Macedonia

•    Volleyball fans can look forward to a clash of epic proportions as Switzerland are hungry for more after their first win in the 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship qualifiers last Wednesday in Skopje, while the F.Y.R. of Macedonia are poised to return to the winning ways after having conceded two consecutive five-set defeats.
•    All eyes will be on Macedonian opposite spiker Nikola Gjorgiev. The unchallenged top scorer of the 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship qualifiers added the massive amount of 40 points to his impressive tally in the last matchup. Gjorgiev now wants to lead his squad to another victory.
•    Meanwhile, Switzerland can count on Luca Ulrich, who has gathered 49 points for his squad, and on captain Samuel Ehrat, who is the number two blocker of the 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship qualifiers with 10 blocks to his name.
•    This matchup between Switzerland and F.Y.R. of Macedonia will be a crucial one for both teams as the winners of this battle might take over the runner-up spot in Pool F depending on the result of the other game in the group between Hungary and Ukraine.



Switzerland captain Samuel Ehrat: “The last two games gave us a lot of confidence. We proved last Wednesday that we can beat a strong squad like the Former Y.R. of Macedonia and now we want to go for the next win. Nikola Gjorgiev is an outstanding player – he proved it once again last Wednesday, but I think we are well prepared for this challenge. I like to play such strong attackers. It is always an interesting challenge for me as a blocker as I can help my team a lot against such opponents. In my opinion, the crowd in Schönenwerd will be the seventh player on the court and take us to the next victory.”
 
F.Y.R. of Macedonia top scorer Nikola Gjorgiev: “It is a very important game for us. We must defeat Switzerland if we want to stay in contention for the second or the top spot of the pool. I think Switzerland are really a good team. Of course, we feel the pressure now, but we like playing under pressure. I think the atmosphere in the team is even better than before the game on Wednesday. I know that Switzerland will focus on me as I scored many points in the last games, but my team and I, we will be ready. Now we just have to reduce the number of unforced errors in our game, play smarter, and focus on the basics.”

Hungary vs. Ukraine

•    The last match between Hungary and Ukraine was three days ago when Ukraine won in straight sets on home court. The second set was a close one, but Ukraine took it 27-25.
•    Ukraine lead Pool F with three wins in as many matches and eight points, followed by three teams with the same record of one win and two losses, i.e. the Former Y.R. of Macedonia (four points), Hungary (3) and Switzerland (3).
•    Hungary need to take at least one point to stay in a good position ahead of the final stage of the qualifications scheduled for early January 2019.
•    Every player is ready to play in the Hungarian squad.
•    The match will be taking place at the new sports hall of the National University of Public Service.



Mark Deak, libero of Team Hungary: “The cohesion is greater than ever inside the team so now we must show what we can do on the court. It is very important for us to play without making a lot of mistakes.”

Ukraine’s Dmytro Viietskyi, best scorer of the last match with 18 points: “Our goal is to continue our winning streak in the qualification. I hope that we can show our skills again like we did earlier this week at home.”

Pool G

Luxembourg vs. Sweden

•    Luxembourg and Sweden play each other for the second time in just four days. This time, the two sides will be locking horns at the “Coque” in Luxembourg City on Saturday.
•    Greece seem to be unreachable at the top of the pool, but the matches against Azerbaijan, where the Red Lions lost 2-3 in a really close game, and against Sweden, where the team did well in edging the Scandinavians in the first set, have shown that Luxembourg is not that far away from the level of the so-called “big teams”.
•    Unfortunately, the result of the first leg against Sweden does not reflect the fighting performance delivered by the Red Lions and they will have to digest this defeat. In front of their home crowd in the Coque, the Luxembourg players want to give their very best and claim their revenge against Sweden. The goal is to fight for every ball. A victory against Sweden would also make a second place in the group possible again.
•    Building on the steadily growing performance and with the great support of the spectators, the Red Lions should finally bring home the victory they have been fighting and vying for so hard.

Both team captains, Gilles Braas (LUX) and Marcus Nilsson (SWE), are bound to meet at the coin toss again on Saturday.

Luxembourg head coach Dieter Scholl reviews his team and the rest of the competition: “This is the first time that we really have a chance to participate in the EuroVolleyM Finals, hence the disappointment of everyone. Anyway, even if we lost all of our matches so far, I can say that this team progresses and that it shows more and more quality on the court.”

Azerbaijan vs. Greece

•    Azerbaijan will be trying to stop Greece’s positive streak, which has been lasting for three rounds already.
•    Last Wednesday Greece beat Azerbaijan 3-0 at Alexandroupolis.
•    Azerbaijan have a record of two wins and one loss so far in the competition.

Farid Jalalov, head coach of Azerbaijan: “We played as strong as we could in our away match against Greece. They are strong as a team and individually as well. Our aim is to show a good game. We have already played with Sweden and Luxembourg and I am satisfied with the performance of my players. In the re-match with Greece, we should again demonstrate good blocking, defence, and so on. It is an important match and we will do our best to achieve a good result.”

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