Ede, The Netherlands, July 16, 2018. The team of the Czech Republic returned to the winning path at the Final Round of the 2018 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship - Men. After losing to Germany in five sets on Sunday, the Czechs opened Monday’s Pool I program in Ede with a four-set victory over Finland. The Germans moved in the opposite direction as Belarus shocked them with a straight-set upset. The Netherlands followed up on their Sunday success with a second victory in front of the home crowd – 3-1 over winless Portugal. So after three competition days, as many as four teams – the Czech Republic, Belarus, the Netherlands and Germany lead the pool standings with two victories each.


Finland vs. Czech Republic 1-3 (19-25, 23-25, 25-14, 23-25)

Great blocking and serving effort by the Czech team allowed them to dominate the first set completely. The Finns fought back, got back to as close as one point behind the opponents, but never quite caught up. A three-point series at the end gave the Czechs a 25-19 win. Stepping up their offensive game, the Finns opened a four-point lead in the second set, but could not hold on to it for long. With Lukas Vasina spiking away, the Czech Republic not only caught up, but took a comfortable four-point lead in turn towards the eventual 25-23 close. Some aggressive serving in the third set, especially from Oskari Keskinen, changed the momentum. With Matias Sosunoff reigning at the net, the northern European squad completely crushed the opponent for a 25-14 landslide. Even the seven points they were trailing by in the fourth set did not make the young Finns surrender. The battle went on through the very end. The Czechs reached a triple match point, but managed to convert it on their last attempt – 25-23. Marek Sotola was the best scorer with 19 points for Czechia, while Sosunoff scored 16 times for Finland.



Jan Svoboda, coach of Czech Republic: "We are happy with the result of the game. There are three reasons why we won: we didn’t make a lot of mistakes, our offence was much better because of our practice, and we won the second and the fourth sets with close numbers."

Ondrej Piskacek, captain of Czech Republic: "I’m so happy for my team. It was a difficult match against the Finns. They are good at defence and have strong float serves. In the third set we made a couple mistakes. The Finns had the upper hand with their serves and we couldn’t find an answer to that."


Germany vs. Belarus 0-3 (23-25, 14-25, 23-25)

The first set was very balanced, with several switches in the lead. On one side, Linus Weber was on fire for Germany, on the other, Belarus responded with a variety of solutions in offence and grabbed the 25-23 win with a rifle shot through the middle. The Germans could not cope with the deadly serving of their opponents in the second set. Seven Belarusian aces down the road, the set was over at an emphatic 25-14. Germany’s attempt at a comeback started after they were trailing by three points (5-8) in the third set. With four points in a row, they took a lead, eventually extending it to 22-19, before the Belarusians mounted a furious mini comeback of their own. Uladzislau Davyskiba, who showed a great overall performance in the match, rightfully closed it off with a blistering attack for 25-23. He became the top scorer of the winning team with 16 points, one fewer than the 17 Linus Weber scored for Germany.



Johan Verstappen, coach of Germany: "We lost against a better opponent. There are two rules in Volleyball - if you don’t take good care of the serve and of reception, you can’t win. And that’s what Belarus did better today. Today we learned that we have to fight for every ball and have to give 100% each time. Next game we will fight for every play."

Eric Burggräf, captain of Germany: "The difference in this game was that Belarus were serving very strong. We didn’t do a good job on all aspects of the game. That’s why we couldn’t win the serves. I don’t think they served this well in other games. As a team we always have to give 100%, but today we didn’t and they did."

Oleg Mikanovich, coach of Belarus: "I’m so happy. We won against Germany who were number 1 in the pool. We were very motivated. We never thought this would happen, but we went all the way. Maybe it was because they played a tough five-set match yesterday. We made the difference today and we are super happy with the result."

Uladzislau Charnysh, player of Belarus: "Unbelievable! We won against Germany! We knew we had to win today and we are very happy with this victory. We came here to finish first in the pool and with this game we are approaching our goal."


Portugal vs. The Netherlands 1-3 (25-22, 12-25, 21-25, 23-25)

After a competitive start, at 19-19, the first set was still wide open. Portugal scored three in a row to take the lead and hold on to it through the end – 25-22. Inspired by the cheering fans, the Netherlands offered a superb reaction, crushing the opponents with a 25-12 landslide in the second set, backed up by four serving aces. Riding the momentum, the Dutch managed a five-point lead (10-5, 11-6) in the third set, but the Portuguese gave them a late scare, regaining control to jump to a 20-17 advantage. The home team responded with six points in row to start an 8-1 run for the 25-21 win. The fourth set offered a close battle all the way through 23-23. A successful attack brought the Netherlands to match point, which Joris Berkhout converted with a monster block for 25-23. Sjors Tijhuis with 16 points for the winning side and his teammate Cas Abraham with 15 led the scoring, followed by Portugal’s David Araujo and Jose Belo with 12 points each.



Arnold van Ree, coach of the Netherlands: "This is why they invented Volleyball. What an exciting game! We lost the first set because Portugal went all the way and took some risks. In the second set we got used to their intensity and from that moment we knew we could win. But it was a close game until the end."

Bennie Tuinstra, captain of the Netherlands: "We have surpassed ourselves today. After yesterday, it is great to win again. You could feel the energy in the crowd and the atmosphere was great. And then everything falls into place. In the first set we had a few minor mistakes, but we talked each other through. After that we made up for it big time with 25-12."


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