Kortrijk, Belgium, July 16, 2018.  Poland were clearly fresher than France in Monday’s first Pool I mach at the Final Round of the 2018 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship - Men and after four sets of play, showcasing some great serving, they claimed their second victory of the tournament leaving the opponents winless in three matches. After leading by two sets and allowing a Polish comeback on Sunday, Russia recovered with a similar feat of their own against so-far-unbeaten Italy, mastering a spectacular turnaround from two sets behind. Remaining the only unbeaten team in the tournament, co-hosts Belgium stamped their ticket to the last two competition days in The Hague with their third victory, a four-setter against winless Turkey. After the end of the first three days of competition, the Belgians are trailed by Italy, Russia and Poland with two wins each.


Poland vs. France 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-17, 25-22)

A lot of faults on the French side gave Poland the occasion to win the first set by 25-17 easily. But the French woke up in the second set with much more equality in the game and the score. Pierre Derouillon was back in business and even though the Polish guys saved two set points, it was the strong arm of François Rebeyrol that decided the 26-24 French win of the second set. In the third, the strong French blocking was delivering, but at 13-16 the Polish coach brought in Mateusz Janikowski to the serving line. An incredible seven points in a row followed while the French could score only one more point for the rest of set – 25-17. The French guys came back to take a 13-10 lead in the fourth set, but in the end the Polish serves and the strong blocking of captain Bartosz Firszt were decisive for the winning 25-22 final score. Remigiusz Kapica topped the scorers’ charts with 18 points for Poland. France’s best scorer Pierre Derouillon finished with 15 points.



Bartosz Firszt, captain of Poland: "The third set was decisive for the match. We came back from 13-16 to win by 25-17 due to Mateusz Janikowski, who was out for two years because of an injury, but was back at the right moment."

Lucas Soldner, player of France: "We did not play badly, but we were surprised by the Polish serves. Perhaps we are not realistic enough in our play, because we have the level for this tournament, but forget it at the key moments."


Italy vs. Russia 2-3 (25-22, 25-20, 9-25, 16-25, 15-17)

The big game of the day between two of the favourites of #EuroVolleyU20 started well for Italy. At the end of the first set the high jumping captain Francesco Recine showed the strongest and the smartest play to help his team to a 25-22 close. In the second set the Italian blocks of Daniele Lavia and Leandro Mosca seemed to be made of iron - impossible for the Russians to get through. As in the previous matches, the Italians got a ‘dip’ in the third set, while the Russian coach had a surprise in his pocket by bringing in Anatoliy Volodin, who framed the opponents with strong serves and attacks on the way to a furious 25-9 return. Diego Cantagalli tried to change the disaster, but he was also blocked by Artem Melnikov and Konstantin Abaev. And as Volodin went on with his fabulous performance, the Russians prompted a tiebreak after a 25-16 fourth set win. The decider started badly for Russia with three faults by Viktor Pivovarov and good attacks by Diego Cantagalli for 5-2, later extended to 10-5 Italy’s way. Two Russian blocks on Daniele Lavia, a fault by Cantagalli and an attack by Alexander Zakhvatenkov helped Russia turn things around to an 11-10 lead. The thriller continued and the Russians were the first to reach match point at 14-13. Then it was Italy’s turn at 15-14 to attempt to close the match. Moments later finally Volodin let the Russians dance with a nail-biting 17-15 win. Viktor Pivovarov scored 21 points for the winning side, while Diego Cantagalli made 19 points for Italy.



Monica Cresta, coach of Italy: "At 2-0 we taught we could win this match 3-0. But then our level went down and their level was going up. Two wins in three matches is good, but it is not finished yet as you can see."

Konstantin Abaev, player of Russia: "No panic at 0-2! Italy are not a super team. They are just like us, like Turkey, like Belgium, like Poland. Was Anatoliy Volodin a surprise? No, when he has it in his mind, he can do everything. Today he had it in his mind."


Belgium vs. Turkey 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-17, 25-20)

In the first set, with the intelligent serves and attacks by Berre Peters and the power of Mathijs Desmet and helped by too many faults of their opponents, Belgium had no problem closing it off at 25-20. In the second set, with the strong Turkish captain Adis Lagumdzija, the attacking points of Ahmet Tümer and an ace of Ali Deniz Yilmaz, Turkey opened a 23-20 gap, which was too big for Matthieu Vanneste and Wout D’Heer to close as their teammates made too many serving faults, and Turkey levelled the match with a 25-23 win. In the third set, thanks to the efforts of middle blocker D’Heer, the Belgian team took a 15-11 advantage. With strong serves, Peters helped keeping that gap wide open – 25-17. There were a lot of faults on both sides in the fourth set, but always with a small advantage for the young Red Dragons, who won it by 25-20. Belgium’s Matthieu Vanneste and Turkey’s Adis Lagumdzija shared the top scoring honours with 18 points each.



Wout D’Heer, player of Belgium: "We are happy to secure a ticket to The Hague. We had a good tactical plan so that we could counter off the top Turkish player. I really knew what to do, thanks to the instructions of the coach."

Akif Gokhan Öner, coach of Turkey: "We must react more as a team when it is going a bit more difficult and we have to resolve the problems in the team."


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