Luxembourg, May 19, 2018. The CEV Volleyball Silver European League started on Saturday with just one match in each pool. Austria dominated the majority of their match against Israel in Pool A, while Sweden needed three sets to defeat Switzerland at home in Örkelljunga. 

Pool A

Sweden vs. Switzerland 3-0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-17)

• 18-year-old superstar Isabelle Haak of Sweden finished as the top scorer of the game with 23 points
  
  
• This was the Swedish women's second victory in the European League. The first one came last year against Spain.
• Laura Kuenzler of Switzerland scored 16 points for the visitors and was named as the team's MVP of the day after the game.
• The young and talented Swedish side shone strong in their first CEV Volleyball Silver European League match of the year as they downed the visitors Switzerland 3-0 on home soil in Örkelljunga. 
• The victory showed the progression of the Swedish team, who was thrashed not once but twice when they clashed with the same opponents a little less than a year ago.

Anna Haak, player of Sweden: “We had a really good connection and fought as a team. It felt like we all used our strengths and got them together in a good way. It was really fun to play and I think that showed out there today. We got energy out of everyone and we fed off each other.”

Laura Kuenzler, player of Switzerland: ”It was a difficult match for us. We have a really young team and had only a few days of practice together coming in to this game. It was for sure not our best game, but not the worst either. We have to keep practising to get better."

Pool B 

Austria vs. Israel 3-1 (25-21, 25-12, 20-25, 25-15)

• On Saturday Austria's women national team started their campaign in the 2018 CEV Volleyball Silver European League at Sportpark Klagenfurt with an important win. The hosts claimed a 3-1 (25-21, 25-12, 20-25, 25-15) victory against Israel.
• While spending 102 minutes on court, the team coached by Svetlana Ilic controlled the game impressively in the first two sets and second half of the last set, thus securing their first win.
• Srna Markovic and Monika Chrtianska were the most prolific players for Austria's side with 19 and 18 points. Marmen Vitalia finished the match with 16 points for Israel, while Polina Malik scored 14 points.

Srna Markovic, top scorer of Austria: "We were the better team, although we dropped our level in the third set. Nevertheless we showed a good performance."

Sophie Wallner, libero of Austria: "We knew that if we stayed focused, we would have a chance to win. Apart from set three we showed a solid performance. Israel showed a good defence."

Giuseppe Cuccarini, coach of Israel: "My players started very nervously in the first and the second set. Slowly they started to bounce back, but we made a lot of individual mistakes. We probably expected something more today, but I think it was a good experience for my players."

Rebecca Kopilovitch, player of Israel: "A lot of our girls were really nervous. But this match was a good experience for us. Today it is what it is, we are going to learn and do it better next time."

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