Luxembourg, August 18, 2018. Saturday brought success to Georgia’s team as the players led by Paata Ulumbelashvili managed to seize their first victory in the qualifiers for the 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Women. In Pool D they emerged victorious at 3-1 vs. Denmark. On the other hand, the teams of Finland, Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina emerged victorious in their pools, outclassing their opponents from Czech Republic (3-2), Norway (3-0) and Latvia (3-0) respectively.

Pool C

Norway vs. Greece 0-3 (20-25, 19-25, 16-25)

•    Before the match Matt van Wezel, head coach of Norway stated that his team will not be a favourite in this game:  “The biggest challenges we will meet is getting the team to still believe in the project and the goals we have set even if we lose the first games in the qualification.”
•    Greece were overall a better team. Norway, on the other hand, were struggling in reception, but played better at the end of every set and closed the gap between the teams.
•    600 spectators made a nice atmosphere around the match.
•    Participants in a youth national team camp as well as volleyball school attended the match and were very motivated by what they saw.
•    Olga Strantzali was the best player of the match with four aces and 16 points in total for Greece.

Pool D

Denmark vs. Georgia 1-3 (25-21, 17-25, 18-25, 23-25)

•    In front of their fantastic crowd, Team Denmark presented good Volleyball skills in the first set. Amalie Victoria Owie spiked well from the left side and was the second best spiker of the match, eventually putting 12 points to her name.
•    The team captain of Georgia, Tinatin Tchautchidze got a red card when her side was leading 8-4 in the second set. Despite that fact, her team levelled up and started playing more aggressively, eventually emerging victorious in this part 25-17.
•    Georgia continued their good play in the third set, constantly scoring for a final 25-18 win.
•    Denmark seemed to be more focused and determined in the fourth set, leading at 12-7, but Georgia came back to the game, quickly managing to turn the score around and win 25-23, thus closing this way the match in their favour.
•    Helena Elbæk of Denmark was the best scorer of the game with 18 points.

Sven-Erik Borch Lauridsen, head coach of Denmark: “We are truly disappointed. We just have to admit that we are not so strong as Georgia’s team from a physical point of view. They had a gear more than us and we could not push them enough in attack. We couldn’t play safe and had to play about over limit during the entire match and unfortunately this led to too many mistakes. Congratulations to Georgia.”

Paata Ulumbelashvili, head coach of Georgia: “After we lost the first pool match against Portugal, it was important for us to win today against Denmark in order to secure a better chance to qualify for the Final Round. It was a very dramatic match, in which we nearly lost against Denmark who pushed us in the first and in the fourth sets. I am very happy with the victory and excited about the next  matches.”

Pool E

Finland vs. Czech Republic 3-2 (19-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23, 15-8)

•    Finnish opposite Pauliina Vilponen played an excellent match recording 27 points, which was the best score in the match.
•    Over 1,200 enthusiastic Finnish fans witnessed a tremendous match with a perfect ending for the home team.
•    Finland took a huge start in the fifth set taking a 7-1 lead thanks to great play at the serve. The Finnish players showed better nerves in the exciting last set and congratulated themselves with the win.
•    Finland have now won two matches with the same result (3-2) while the pool favourite Czech Republic is surprisingly without a win so far.

Tapio Kangasniemi, head coach of Finland: “It was a busy night on the court and on the bench. We had a feeling already in the morning that we would play to win. We had some trouble with the reception and also with the attacks as did the Czech team. We served better towards the end of the match and it was the key to the victory.”

Pauliina Vilponen, captain of Finland: “It was a great match for us. The Czech Republic showed good service, but we managed to resist and to fight, especially in attack. We also blocked well in the three sets we won.”

Zdenek Pommer, head coach of Czech Republic: “Both sides showed a real fighting spirit.  The most important component for both teams was the service. The end of the fourth set was decisive for this match.”

Barbora Purchartova, captain of Czech Republic: “I think the game was really good for the people to watch with many ups and downs. Now I am of course really disappointed that we didn’t win. We had troubles with the reception and with the sideout attacks. Finland’s outside hitters were better. They made a good job.”

Pool F

Bosnia&Herzegovina vs. Latvia 3-0 (25-8, 25-16, 25-16)

•    Bosnia & Herzegovina after a 3-2 victory over Romania in Leg 1 were the favourites before Saturday’s match, especially having in mind that they were playing at home.
•    In the first set the hosts defeated Latvia with no big problems. The visitors scored only eight points and even substitutions did not help them improve their game.
•    Latvia looked better on the court in the next two sets, but the Bosnian players showed better skills. In the third set the guests were leading by three points, but after the time-out taken by the head coach of Bosnia&Herzegovina - Goran Nesic, his team got back on track and easily won 25-16.
•    Dajana Boskovic became best scorer of the match with 14 points.

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