Ede, The Netherlands, July 15, 2018. Germany opened the second competition day at the Final Round of the 2018 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship - Men with a win again, only this time it was a dramatic five setter against the Czech Republic. In the second Pool I match of the day, the home heroes from the Netherlands delivered a delightful shutout of Finland for their fans, their first victory of the tournament. Belarus also rebounded from their defeat on Saturday with a straight-set win over Portugal.


Czech Republic vs. Germany 2-3 (23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 16-25, 9-15)

Linus Weber scored 11 points for Germany in the first set to help his team emerge with a 25-23 win. In the next two sets the Czechs were well in control of the scoreboard. With a lot of precision in their game and setter Ondrej Piskacek doing his magic in delivering opportunities in offence, they took the lead after 25-21 and 25-19. After 8-8 in the fourth set, while the Czechs started making too many mistakes, Germany regained control and powered through to level the match at 25-16. Riding the momentum, the Germans scored four in a row for an 11-7 lead in the fifth set, and there was no stopping them through the end of the match. Much more efficient in attack than the opponents, they closed the game off at 15-9. Linus Weber was on fire with 30 points, including four aces and three stuff blocks, to lead the scorers of the match. Marek Sotola topped the Czech scoring with 21 points.



Jan Svoboda, coach of Czech Republic: "We were close to winning the match in the fourth set. The reason why we lost the game is because we lost the first set. The only thing we can do now is to look forward to the game tomorrow. We know Finland well because we played against them a few times last month. We expect another exciting game because the teams are well matched."

Ondrej Piskacek, captain of Czech Republic: "It was a very good match and we were unlucky in the tie-break. We played better than yesterday mainly at reception. The attack was much better, but unfortunately we made a lot of mistakes in serving."

Johan Verstappen, coach of Germany: "We played as a team. It was a very good match. Both teams played on a high level. We had a challenge in the first set to get a grip on the match, especially by Marek Sotola. We showed them that we can recover and not get frustrated. We did not win because we were lucky, but because of the strength of the team."

Eric Burggräf, captain of Germany: "We know that it was a strong opponent in this tournament. It was very difficult to find our way in the first set. We got a lot of energy because we were fighting for every point. Our reception was not great, so we were not at our best."


The Netherlands vs. Finland 3-0 (30-28, 25-20, 25-19)

The Netherlands could not hold on to the four-point lead they had at 20-16 to allow the first set to go deep into overtime. The Finns kept denying all those Dutch set points, but never managed to step upfront. Finally, on their sixth opportunity to close the set, the home side did so to win it by 30-28. In the second set, Finland came back twice – first from a five-point deficit, and then from a three-point deficit – but in the conclusive moments the Dutch team broke away again to grab the set by 25-20. With numerous noisy fans on the stands supporting both squads, the Finns tried fighting back at the beginning of the third set and it was the first time in the match when they were in control of the scoreboard. However, the deadly serving and the strong blocking on the other side of the net restored the Dutch domination on the court. Once again, the home guys managed to keep their cool in the money time to run off with a 25-19 win. Three players shared the top scorer honours with 14 points each - Daan Streutker of the Netherlands and Finland’s Aaro Nikula and Niko Suihkonen.



Arnold van Ree, coach of The Netherlands: "I am very happy with this victory. We had a long streak of close losses and the boys had to book a victory sometime. Today was the day for that, and Finland were our victim. We played very focused, and our middle attackers could excel due to our solid passing. Also the Dutch fans gave us a lot of energy. This is the benefit of playing at home."

Bennie Tuinstra, captain of The Netherlands: "It went much better than yesterday. We had the persuasiveness to win the match. The pass is the biggest improvement point compared to yesterday. And then you see that we are much more physical than Finland."

Janne Heikkinen, coach of Finland: "Fortunately, this was not our best game. The Dutch team played a good match and we were not able to answer back. They deserved to win. We lost the serve reception today and that’s the main reason we lost the match."

Joona Väänänen, captain of Finland: "First of all, we are disappointed with this match. We have to think about the reason why we lost. We watched the Dutch yesterday, but today they were a lot better. They use the middle part of the net very well while we lost too many serves."


Belarus vs. Portugal 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20)

With a lot of efficiency from the serving line, Belarus scored as many as five aces to dominate the first set. Uladzislau Charnysh contributed seven points, including the spike that closed the set at 25-19. Charnysh continued to fire away in the second set, adding another eight points to his tally and towards Belarus’s 25-20 win. Portugal took a three-point lead at 7-4 in the third set and held on to it through 10-7, but a six-point run by Belarus changed the momentum. Petr Miniankou hammered four aces in the set and even scored the winning point from the serving line to shape up the 25-20 final score. Uladzislau Charnysh was the best scorer of the match with 19 points. His teammate Uladzislau Davyskiba and Portugal’s Andre Marques scored 10 times each.



Oleg Mikanovich, coach of Belarus: "Today our team played much more structured and more relaxed than yesterday, we had good serving and that’s why we could play more aggressively. Every time we play, we play better."

Uladzislau Charnysh, player of Belarus: "It wasn’t a bad game and Portugal were not a bad opponent. We still need to practice our block. We tried to pull the game our way and we did."

Nuno Miguel dos Santos Pereira, coach of Portugal: "The problem was the expectations. We will focus on tomorrow and see what happens next."

Afonso Reis, captain of Portugal: "Today we didn’t play our best game, again. We tried to be better than yesterday, but we couldn’t do the things we practiced, and that’s why we lost. Also, we missed the right attitude!"


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