Luxembourg, August 22, 2018.  It was a busy Wednesday as 24 teams competed across Europe in the 3rd leg of the 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championships qualification round, all seeking to finish in the top two positions come the conclusion of the sixth leg in January.  Those with one foot through the door already are Belgium, Croatia, Greece, France and Finland who are all undefeated, with the first three scoring the maximum nine points after the three matches played.  Remember you can watch all of the action back on laola1.tv or check out our social media channels using #EuroVolleyW.

Pool A

Belgium vs. Slovenia 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-21)

• It was a battle between the two unbeaten leaders in Pool A and the Slovenian guests came out firing at the Sporthal Arena in Deurne.
• Some tricky serves and a couple of beautiful spikes gave Slovenia a 15-10 lead. Substitutes Nathalie Lemmens and Karolina Goliat levelled the score and propelled the Yellow Tigers to a 23-21 advantage. Marlies Janssens sealed the hard fought opener 25-23 for the home side, much to the delight of the 1,400 spectators in attendance.
• With the same zip Tina Grudina and her teammates kept the Yellow Tigers within reach up till 17-14 in the second set. Service pressure from Janssens, Britt Herbots and Ilka Van de Vyver eventually crushed the visitors’ resistance: 25-16.
• Set 3 proved to be one more thriller until 12-all, when Slovenia saw its libero Maja Pahor struggle after being accidentally hit by a Belgian spike.
• Kaja Grobelna and top scorer Herbots took the opportunity for a clear 22-15 lead, resulting in an eventual 25-21 for the clean 3-0 victory and outright top spot in Pool A.

Gert Vande Broek, head coach Belgium: “Slovenia was a tough opponent and maybe the expectations after our nearly perfect game in Israel were too high, so we acted a little too nervously. Now it’s up to us to show a good performance in Slovenia on Saturday.”

Eva Mori, captain of Slovenia: “We knew Belgium is a strong team and they performed on a high level. Moreover, we made too many mistakes. On Saturday, we’ll have the home crowd behind us, so we want to treat our fans with a strong performance.”

Israel vs. Iceland 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-18)

• Iceland opened the game, showing fast speed Volleyball and took the lead at 8-3 in their favour. However, the 35-year- old Anna Velikiy from Israel performed great and led her team to a 25-19 first set win. 
• The second set went easier for Israel, but a fierce comeback by the guests threatened their advantage. Despite that, Israel kept the lead and won again, this time 25-20.
• Iceland wouldn't give up the match despite losing the first two sets, and the third set went head to head until 13-13, when Sapir Chodorov gave Israel a morale boost for a final 25-18 in the third part.

Giuseppe Cuccarini, head coach of Israel: "It was difficult to play today after two defeats, but the players handled it well. I hope that on Sunday we will be more relaxed, because today the pressure was high."

Borja Gonzalez Vicente, head coach of Iceland: "Volleyball in Iceland is still developing. Today we had problems in reception and we still have a long way ahead of us. At the moment, every away game is a good experience for us."

Pool B

Croatia vs. Austria 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-14)

• This was the third win in a row for Team Croatia, who now stand by themselves at the top of Pool B. 
• The match was quite balanced, but Croatia were able to pull away at the end of each set.
• Captain of Croatia Samanta Fabris and teammate Ivana Prokopic tallied four kill blocks each during the match. Sanja Popovic-Gamma also contributed to the Croatian victory with 12 kills on 20 attempts.
• Croatia was successful on 51% of their attacks compared to only 36% for Austria.
• These teams will have a rematch on Saturday in Austria.

Daniele Santarelli, Head coach of Croatia: “I'm happy with the win, but not too much with the game itself. There was a lot of mistakes, especially at the first contact.  Our service might have been a bit better than before, but we have to be even better. I do not know why we were nervous, this morning we had an excellent training, but now it was not so good. We need to make some progress, because we can do better as a team.”

Samanta Fabris, captain of Croatia: “We are now closer to the European Championship, this is just one step. There is progress from game to game but we need better reception.”

Switzerland vs. Albania 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-14)

• Switzerland middle-blockers Gabi Schottroff and Livia Zaugg outshone everybody on the court in the first set with five blocks. In total, Switzerland booked 11 block points across the three sets – their second-best blocking performance after the 12 block points in the #EuroVolleyW opener versus Austria.
• Despite some struggles in the first rallies of the second set, Switzerland were able to fight their way back into the match as they stepped up their attacking game.
• Erblira Bici of the away side was not able to lead her team to a victory despite topping the scorer list with 18 points. Switzerland captain Laura Kuenzler, on the other hand, was the best scorer of the home side with 14 points.
• Switzerland are now with two wins and one loss in their 2019 CEV Volleyball European Championship Qualifiers campaign. Timothy Lippuner’s squad will get the chance to make one big step closer to the big goal, their first participation in Europe’s premier event since 2013, with the rematch against Albania on Saturday. 

Timo Lippuner, coach of Switzerland: “I think we can be satisfied with the three points. This one was without doubt a crucial match. We are still a young team and I wish my players were a little bit more self-confident. We were too nervous on the court during crunch times. My team can still do better if they play with more belief. That is what I want to teach my players because my squad have got a lot of potential.”
 
Laura Kuenzler, captain of Switzerland: “I think we can be proud of the result. But we all know that we can still do better. That is why we have to analyse today’s game and keep on working hard every day. In my opinion, we are in a completely new situation. We are not used to start as favourites into a game. Maybe we felt a little bit of pressure too as all eyes in Switzerland were on us, but we know we can play good Volleyball.”

Sava Thaka, middle blocker of Albania: “It was the first time we faced Switzerland. We struggled a little bit as we are still a very young team. But we were poised to fight for every ball. Despite this loss, I am very confident that we can win the rematch this weekend.”

Pool C

Ukraine vs. Greece 0-3 (18-25, 19-25, 19-25)

•    The two unbeaten teams  in Pool C met in the first game of Leg 3 in Zaporizhya. Thanks to their defence and the hits of Anthi Vasilantonaki, Greece were leading after the first set which they controlled from the beginning to eventually win at 25-18.
•    The Greeks continued their impressive performance in the second set as well. They were better in every aspect of the game, especially in blocking, and they easily won this part at 25-19.
•    The away team dominated in the third set as well and the Ukrainians could not do anything to cope with their fast attacks.
•    Greece won in straight sets and thus became the sole leader of Pool C.
•    Anthi Vasilantonaki became the best scorer of the match with 24 points for Greece.

Montenegro vs. Norway 3-1 (25-17, 25-12, 12-25, 27-25)

• Montenegro secured a small lead from the start of the opening set and saved it until the end with a great performance from Tatjana Bokan, scoring eight points on her own.
• The domination of the Montenegrin team continued in the second set with the travelling side without a solid block or any solution for the attacks of Montenegro.
• The third set saw the return of Norway as the home side relaxed a bit too early.  Norway were ahead from the start eventually winning it to 12 points. The best scorer from Team Norway was Ragni Steen Knudsen with six points to her name in set 3 alone.
• Montenegro won a tight 4th set 27-25 with their last great attack sealed by Tatjana Bokan again, a real captain of the team.

Tatjana Bokan, from Montenegro: “It was a good match, and as we say in our country “it was on muscles”.”

Pool D

France vs. Georgia 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-13)

•    Juliette Fidon became best scorer with 12 points.
•    The event was sold out in Belfort (FRA) with more tha 1,700 people in attendance.
•    The head coach of France Emile Rousseaux decided to give rest to some of his starting players.
•    Emile Rousseaux did not make any substitutions during the match.

Emile Rousseaux, head coach of France: “If I was told we were going to win these three matches, I would not have believed it!  We showed good things, but also some more average. Fortunately, we have strong service skills in our team.  Often, we showed two faces in our games but it’s quite normal at our level, as the players keep learning. About the qualification? We need four victories to qualify, and we have three at the moment.”

Juliette Fidon, captain of France: “It was not a perfect game, but it is good to win and especially without losing any set. We don’t spend too much time on the court and in the end of this long international season, it is good for everybody. The public was fantastic here in Belfort, they really really helped us.”

Portugal vs. Denmark 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-16)

•    Denmark led the scoreboard and dictated the rhythm of the match from the beginning until the 23-point mark when Portugal tied with a block  by their setter, Vanessa Rodrigues. The Nordics felt the pressure and their middle blockers Eduarda Duarte and Aline Rodrigues secured Portugal’s win for 26-24.
•    With the lesson apparently learned, Portugal started better in the second part, but Denmark were able to recover from a three-point disadvantage and tie the score at 12. The balance was maintained almost until the end, when Portugal showed superiority on the attack thanks to the good performance delivered by Juliana Antunes and Julia Kavalenka to eventually emerge victorious at 25-21.
•    Playing with growing confidence and with greater efficacy in the service, Manuel Almeida’s team made the crowd enthusiastic with an exhibition closer to their true level and won the third set comfortably by 25-16.

Juliana Antunes, captain of Portugal: “We had little information on Denmark. We ended by winning the match after a first unsteady set. We will face them again on Saturday and I think that match will be different. We’ll go with the aim of winning another match that will allow us to face the next games, against Georgia and France, with more confidence.”

Sven-Erik Lauridsen, head coach of Denmark: “We knew that it would be very difficult to beat Portugal that play at a higher level than we do, but I think that we ended up playing a good match. We have to prepare to play at the same level as Portugal but we want to win Saturday’s match, when we play at home”.
 
Pool E

Czech Republic vs. Estonia 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-19)

• The Czechs entered the game excellently; Helena Havelková scored the first ace in the game followed by Kateřina Holásková, which forced the Estonian coach to take the first timeout (7-3). However, the Estonian players soon got into the game and thanks to their courageous play, they managed to draw level at 11-11, which also made the home coach call for a timeout.  But an amazing spike by Michaela Mlejnková ended the set at 25-23 for the home side.
• Thanks to an amazing audience, the Czechs had a perfect start to the second set as well. Reliable and very effective with the serve, Pavla Šmídová made for the first eight changes of the guest coach and also to exhaust the two timeouts. After the second, the Estonians scored for the first time making it 1-8. Two  aces in a row scored by the Czech blocker Veronika Strušková made the score 17-6. From the beautiful spike she folded the ball and finished the second set at 25-12.
• The Czech players continued their commanding game in the beginning of the third set. The 3-meter out from Kristiine Miilen made the guest coach call for a timeout (score 12-6). Towards the end of set, the home team entered with a lead of eight points. The very first Czech match ball was Helena Havelková’s nice block, and the Czechs claimed their first victory in Pool E, thus moving into second place in the pool.

Helena Havelkova, spiker of Czech Republic: “Today, all three sets we started well, we were on top. I am very pleased that there were so many spectators today, I am from Liberec and I am very pleased that so many people came from this region to watch.”

Lubomir Stanek, assistant coach of Czech Republic: “We are happy for the three points, since we had lost twice in the tiebreak, so it is a relief for us and the girls. We go on, we have to confirm it in Estonia. I'm glad we won two sets in a row for the first time in qualifying matches. Then I knew we were going to finish it off nicely.”

Julija Mőnnakmäe, captain of Estonia: “The Czechs got a big victory today, they attacked very well, especially their outside spiker. We couldn’t attack as we hoped because our reception wasn’t good enough. I think the Czech Republic were better today in every element of the game.”

Andrei Ojamets, coach of Estonia: “The Czech team’s quality was much better than ours today. I don’t know what happened but in our team some players just stopped playing. We don’t have such a big bench as the Czech team. We have many young players.”

Finland vs. Sweden 3-1 (20-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-14)

•    After a difficult first set Finland overpowered Sweden in the next three parts, taking their third win in as many matches.
•    Sweden’s superstar Isabelle Haak was the best scorer of the match with 27 points to her name.
•    Finnish captain Pauliina Vilponen played her last game with the National team on home ground and the last ever match that she will playing in for Finland will take place in Sweden this coming weekend.
•    2,200 Finnish spectators witnessed an exciting match.

Tapio Kangasniemi, head coach of Finland: “It was great to win in front of our home crowd. Even more greater was how our team could recover again after a difficult first set. This was our best match in the qualification round so far. When Isabelle Haak served, we had to take four players to reception, which we really don’t do normally. The next match in Sweden will be a very interesting one and I believe that Sweden will play better.”

Pauliina Vilponen, captain of Finland: “This was a team victory. We could follow our tactics. It was great to win 3-1 after two 3-2 victories. My own feeling was great. In Sweden we must play better than we did here.”

Jonas Svantesson, head coach of Sweden: “I think that Finland performed very strong. On  the other hand, we had too many ups and downs. We should have had a more stable reception. However, I am pretty satisfied with our overall performance. We need to get the best out of our players on the court in order to beat Finland in Umeå.”

Jonna Wasserfaller, captain of Sweden: “Finland played a good game. We played well in the first set and we came back also in the second part, but then we lost our game and the way how we should play.”

Pool F

Romania vs. Latvia 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-22)

• Before the match, Romania had a record of one win and one loss. Latvia started the third qualification stage with two straight losses - without winning a set.
• The match started according to the odds as Romania dominated the first set from the beginning to the end, especially when Adina Salaoru and Ioana Maria Baciu helped their team secure a comprehensive 25-11 opening set win.
• The second set started with Latvia more focused, whilst Romania seemed a bit more relaxed. Latvia built an impressive 10-5 lead, mostly gained through an effective performance by Marta Kamelija Levinska. However, the home team managed to gradually reduce the gap. The lead was changing back and forth, but thanks to a few mistakes from the travelling side, Romania eventually closed the second set out 25-18.
• The third part of the match was again ruled by the Romanian team who were up to 8-2 and 16-14, except that when the Latvian team, helped again by Levinska and Monta Strazdina put a lot of pressure on Romania’s defence. The Romanian players improved their performance and made an important step towards being one of the top two teams in Pool F by achieving a 3-0 win.

Nikolay Ivanov, head coach of Romania: “It’s our second victory and I’m happy about this result. We will fight for every match and every rally until the Final Round.”

Inguna Minusa, head coach of Latvia: “We are a young team and we had some ups and downs during our game. I am happy that our girls have grown in power and confidence during the matches.”

Spain vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-0 (34-32, 25-19, 25-12)

•    Every point was important in the first set as both teams were showing a real fighting spirit. The Spaniards needed 37 minutes to put an end to the discussion and take this part at 34-32.
•    In the second set Spain showed better nerves and playing calmly, controlled the game for a great performance against the still unbeaten Bosnia & Herzegovina.
•    Helia González assumed the role of captain to lead her teammates to the victory with 23 points and six aces. On the other hand, Andelka Radiskovic became the top scorer for the Bosnian side with nine points to her name.
•    Raquel Montoro, only 15 years old, made her first appearance with the Spanish National Team after the last minute injury of Ana Correa.
•    Spain extended their positive streak against Bosnia with a fifth victory in a row.
•    Bosnia and Herzegovina lost their leading position in Pool F after the match on Wednesday.
•    Both teams will meet again on Sunday in a key match for the standing in their Pool.

Anil Dervisevic, assistant coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina: “Spain were definitely much better today. Best attack, better reception.... they delivered a great performance. The first set was very tough. After that we had a kind of ‘collapse’ in our lines. Next Sunday we play at home, where we expect a full house and we hope to play a better game.”

María Segura, player of Spain: “I think we played really, really good. This was the point to control the game all the time. In the first set we did too many mistakes while in the second and third we had great serve and block.”