04/09/2019 23:10
Serbia v Italy, Turkey v Poland are the EuroVolley Women semis!
CEV EuroVolley 2019 Women
Luxembourg, September 4, 2019. A repeat of the 2018 FIVB World Championship gold medal match between Serbia and Italy and a matchup featuring two of the host countries – Turkey and Poland. This is the programme of Saturday’s semi-final matches of the history-making CEV EuroVolley 2019 Women, which will be reaching its climax later this week in Ankara. Serbia will play Italy at 17:00 local time, followed by the match between Turkey and Poland at 19:30.
Make sure you follow the competition through the official event website https://eurovolley.cev.eu and the CEV’s social media channels, with live streaming (geo-blocking applies depending on the TV agreements in place) and exclusive video content available on EuroVolleyTV and the CEV’s YouTube channel, respectively.
Serbia vs. Bulgaria 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 28-26)
• Serbia opened the programme of the quarterfinals with a speedy shutout (3-0) of Bulgaria in Ankara. Whilst they had dropped a set in a previous match with the ‘Lionesses’ in Pool A, this time Serbia were absolutely dominant to secure their fifth EuroVolley semi-final appearance in a row.
• Serbia won gold in 2011 and 2017, bronze in 2015 and finished fourth in 2013 – a list of honours that is testament to their consistency at the highest level, not to forget the silver medal they claimed from the Rio 2016 Olympics and last year’s World Championship title.
Italy vs. Russia 3-1 (25-27, 25-22, 27-25, 25-21)
• Their opponent in the semis will be Italy as the ‘Azzurre’ fought hard to secure a 3-1 victory over Russia in the ‘match of the day’.
• Paola Egonu spearheaded Italy’s attack with a personal tally of 28 points. Italy return to contest a EuroVolley semi-final for the first time since losing to Germany in 2011 in Belgrade.
• Egonu claimed the duel with Russian opposite hitter Nataliya Goncharova, who scored 22 times in the match. Russia, after securing back-to-back European titles in 2013 and 2015, failed to make the semis for the second straight edition, as back in 2017 they lost to Turkey in the quarterfinals.
Turkey vs. the Netherlands 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20)
• Turkey delighted a raucous sell-out crowd of 12,000 fans – the highest record of attendance at this year’s EuroVolley – with a thunderous performance that resulted in a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the Netherlands.
• Turkey showed a completely different side of themselves compared to Sunday’s shaky performance in the 8th Final match with Croatia. The ‘Sultans of the Net’ did not leave any chance to a Dutch team that had not lost a single set in the competition before travelling to Ankara and had to endure an ankle injury to their rising star Nika Daalderop.
• Turkey remain on course to improve on the silver medal a previous generation claimed in 2003 when EuroVolley took place in Ankara as well. Team captain Eda Erdem Dündar and Hande Baladin were the real match winners for the hosts.
Poland vs. Germany 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 25-19, 17-25, 15-11)
• Finally, co-hosts Poland completed the line-up for the semis after their 3-2 hard-fought victory over Germany. The White-and-Reds lost the first set before edging ahead but Germany mounted a comeback in the fourth to surrender in the tiebreak.
• Poland will move to Ankara to play Turkey and try to secure their first EuroVolley medal since taking bronze on home soil in 2009.
• As many as 9,390 fans attended the match with Germany at Atlas Arena in Lodz – thus accounting for a record of attendance in regard to the EuroVolley matches held in the Polish city.
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