Luxembourg, May 23, 2018. Latvia and Croatia confirmed their strong start to the CEV Silver European League. Both secured two victories in as many matches after Leg 2, becoming the top teams in their respective Pools A and B. On Wednesday Latvia needed three sets only to beat the Former Y.R. of Macedonia, while Austria claimed second place in Pool A and recorded their first victory in the competition after a 3-0 win over Kosovo. In Pool B, Croatia required four sets to win against Belarus. Albania followed their example with a 3-1 win against Hungary, but the team remain third in Pool B.
POOL A
Kosovo vs. Austria 0-3 (18-25, 12-25, 17-25)
• After losing to Latvia last Saturday, Austria celebrated their first victory in the competition, beating Kosovo 3-0 in Gjilan.
• The first set was a close affair up to 14-all before Austria edged ahead and imposed their rule.
• Austrian rising Volleyball star Paul Buchegger top scored with 17 points.
• As they paid their first-ever visit to Kosovo, Austria travel home with maximum three points from this game.
• The men’s national team of Kosovo played their first-ever match at Bashkim Selishta-Petriti sports hall in the city of Gjilan.
Peter Wohlfahrtstätter, player of Austria: “We watched a lot of videos of Kosovo and we knew every player. We did too many mistakes but we managed to get back in good shape. Since last Saturday, we had another two, three training sessions together in order to establish a better connection and chemistry, and this is the result.”
Michael Warm, head coach of Austria: “We are happy that we won today and we were extremely focused and concentrated. The next match in Skopje will be another tough one. We saw the match of Kosovo against the Former Y.R. of Macedonia and we tried to pay attention to their middle-blocker, and that was key towards our victory today.”
Latvia vs. Former Y.R. of Macedonia 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-19)
• After beating Austria last Saturday, Latvia recorded their second straight victory in the competition.
• Nikola Gjorgiev top scored for the visitors with 12 points.
• Edvarts Buivids paced Latvia with 16 as Deniss Petrovs delighted the home fans in his hometown Daugavpils with a solid performance.
Deniss Petrovs, player of Latvia: “The Former Y.R. of Macedonia was an opponent that we did not know very well, however we managed to win. Today I felt like we had a better chemistry in the game. I was very honoured to receive the MVP title – especially while playing in my hometown. Now we are looking forward to the next game with Kosovo.”
Nikola Gjorgiev, player of the Former Y.R. of Macedonia: “Latvia was a tough opponent and we did not expect this to be an easy game, especially after seeing how they fought in Austria. We started well, however we made many mistakes. The good thing is we still have time to improve our game. Good luck to Latvia in the next games and we will now prepare for our game with Austria.”
POOL B
Hungary vs. Albania 1-3 (25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 23-25)
- Both teams lost their first games in Pool A. Albania gained their first victory in this year’s Silver European League, while Hungary are still winless after two rounds.
- Albania started the first set strongly, but Hungary bounced back, tied at 17-17 and kept the lead to win 25-22.
- Both teams kept the score tight in the second set, with neither leading by more than three points, up until 18-18. At that moment, Albania seized an opportunity to go 22-18 ahead, and eventually won the set 25-21.
- The visiting team dominated the third set since the beginning, leading 5-2, 16-12 and 22-18, eventually recording a 25-21 win.
- Albania took a seven-point lead in the fourth set (16-9), but Hungary managed to equalise at 19-19. Albania were able to stop their opponent and won the set in the end with 25-23.
- Top scorers of the match were Hungary’s Krisztián Pádár with 12 points and Albania’s Gazmend Husaj with 20 points.
Anton Qafarena from Albania was named the best player of the match.
Péter Blazsovics, player of Hungary: “We started the match really well, but after the first set our performance began to drop. Our coach tried to help us with substitutions, but it didn’t achieve the desired effect. We fought really hard but unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the victory. We will try to improve our performance for the next match.”
Gazmend Husaj, captain of Albania: “We have a very young team, we are trying to develop from match to match. I hope we can build on this victory for the upcoming games.”
Belarus vs. Croatia 1-3 (25-21, 17-25, 19-25, 20-25)
• The 211 cm tall opposite of Belarus, Artur Udrys, displayed a very solid blocking game in the early stages of the match and the attacks killed by Andrei Radziuk paved the way towards a 25-21 win for Belarus.
• However, Croatia showed great defence in the remainder of the match and Belarus could not keep their pace high despite many substitutions. Leo Andrić scored two aces in a row to seal a 25-17 win for Croatia in the second set.
• The setter of Croatia, Tsimafei Zhukouski, made it very difficult for Belarus to read the Croatian game. Andrić top scored in the end with 28 points as the only 17-year-old Uladzislau Davyskiba scored his first point (an ace) with the Belarusian senior national team.
Viktar Beksha, head coach of Belarus: “Croatia played better in defence and obviously their serve today decided the outcome of the match. It was difficult for us to receive their serves. We need to work on our own mistakes.”
Ivan Rančić, head coach of Croatia: “Our new team performed well here in Minsk. We carefully prepared for this game from a tactical standpoint. Belarus is one of the favourites of the Silver European League, so it was important for us to keep concentration and win. We are sure that we will have more interesting matches with this opponent.”
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