14/09/2019 23:59
Montenegro celebrate historic win; Bulgaria, Russia advance to next round
CEV EuroVolley 2019 Men
Luxembourg, September 14, 2019. Bulgaria and Russia became the first two teams to reserve their berths among the eighthfinalists of CEV EuroVolley 2019 Men. They each scored their third win of the tournament and can no longer drop below the fourth place in their respective pool standings. Also on Saturday, Montenegro made history by claiming their first ever win at the finals of a European Championship.
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Click here for a comprehensive TV schedule of the matches on Sunday, September 15.
Bulgarian opposite Tsvetan Sokolov celebrates with his teammates after scoring a point
Pool A
• Inspired by a great home crowd, France shut out Greece in a one-way match to claim their second straight-set win in Pool A.
• Stephen Boyer contributed as many as 25 points to France’s victory, while Nikos Zoupani was Greece’s top scorer on 13 points.
• Bulgaria mastered their third three-point victory in the pool, a 3-1 win over Portugal, and secured their spot in the eighthfinals of EuroVolley 2019.
• Bulgarian star player Tsvetan Sokolov delivered 33 points for the victory, including three aces and two blocks. Alexandre Ferreira tallied 22 points for Portugal.
Match Centres:
GRE vs FRA 0-3 (14-25, 18-25, 24-26)
BUL vs POR 3-1 (25-23, 28-30, 25-23, 25-22)
Slovakia’s setter Juraj Zatko in action
Pool B
• Belgium defeated Germany in five sets to claim their second win in Pool B and leave their neighbours winless in Brussels. The Germans rallied from two sets down to prompt a decider, but their comeback did not go all the way to a complete reversal of the match.
• Germany’s Christian Fromm fired away 27 points to lead the scorers of the match. Belgian captain Sam Deroo put away 19 for the winners.
• Slovakia clearly stated their intentions of making the next round of EuroVolley by stamping their second victory in Pool B. They came back from a set down against Austria to win in four and stand undefeated after the second competition day in Brussels.
• Capitalising on setter Juraj Zatko’s magic touch, opposite Peter Michalovic once again stormed to the top of the scorers’ chart, putting away 26 points for Slovakia. Thomas Zass was Austria’s best scorer on 19 points.
Match Centres:
GER vs BEL 2-3 (23-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-15, 13-15)
SVK vs AUT 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-15)
Russian celebration
Pool C
• Russia cruised to a straight-set victory over North Macedonia to stay unbeaten in three matches played so far. Following the result of Saturday’s late match in Ljubljana, the Russians booked their ticket to the next round. The Balkan squad were a good match to their gigantic opponent only in the third set managing to extend it to extra time and remained winless in Pool C, also in three games played.
• Russia’s Dimitrii Volkov scored the highest number of points, 15, while Nikola Gjorgiev and Filip Madjunkov claimed 12 each for North Macedonia.
• Almost two thousand Finns were among the almost eight thousand spectators who saw Slovenia defeating Finland in four sets in Ljubljana, their second win in two matches. After this game, the northern European side stands on a 1-1 win-loss record.
• Slovenia’s Tine Urnaut pleased the home fans with 21 points to his name, while Samuli Kaislasalo, with 12 points, was the only Finnish player to reach the double digits.
Match Centres:
MKD vs RUS 0-3 (15-25, 16-25, 28-30)
SLO vs FIN 3-1 (25-18, 26-24, 24-26, 25-15)
Ace joins celebrations in orange after the Netherlands defeated Ukraine
Pool D
• Ukraine and the Netherlands put on a fierce battle in each of the three sets in their Pool D encounter on Saturday, but on all three occasions it was the home side that came up with the upper hand to register their second victory in Rotterdam, leaving the opponents on a 1-1 win-loss record.
• Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz was once again the best scorer of the match, stringing up 21 points, of which four aces. Oleh Plotnytskyi was Ukraine’s best point-maker, with 13.
• Montenegro claimed their first ever win at EuroVolley finals. The Balkan rookie stunned Estonia in straight sets to disappoint the enthusiastic Estonian fans, who packed the Ahoy centre in Rotterdam.
• With 18 points, Marko Bojic from Montenegro was the top scorer of the match. Robert Täht scored 14 points for Estonia.
Match Centres:
UKR vs NED 0-3 (26-28, 27-29, 21-25)
EST vs MNE 0-3 (23-25, 28-30, 23-25)
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