Trieste/Zagreb, Italy/Croatia, July 20, 2019. The finals are set. Turkey will be duelling with Italy for the crown of the #EuroVolleyU16W in Trieste tomorrow, while Slovenia and Russia are both going for bronze. Again, both matches will be broadcasted live on www.EuroVolley.tv. Italy will be trying to make amends for their 0-3 loss to Turkey in the pool phase, while Russia hope to repeat their 3-1 success over Slovenia from Zagreb in the quest for bronze. At the same time we have in Zagreb Serbia and The Netherlands fighting for the fifth spot, and Germany and France going for the seventh.
Semifinals 1-4 in Trieste
Turkey vs Slovenia 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-8)
“After our tight loss with Germany, we thought, that was it. And then suddenly we were back in business. This only happens with sports. When you get a second chance, you have to take it. This is what we want to do”, said Ziva Cof, coach of Slovenia, when she was transferred with her team from Zagreb to the semi-finals in Trieste.
A day later her team started its unexpected tour on the medal-evolving Taraflex in the PalaChiarbola.
The crowd witnessed some extraordinary fighting spirit. Slovenia, being the clear underdogs, whose players celebrated each point and never lost the smiles in their faces, was dealing with a taller and technically better equipped team from Turkey. But slowly, from a comfortable 17-11 Turkish lead, the young Slovenians worked themselves to a tie to 20-20 and thus back in the game. They kept their heads up and forced Turkey to lose their first set in the competition, with two service-winners from Maja Salamun deciding this fact. What happened next? Yes, of course! More smiles in the faces of the young Slovenians. And up to 10-10 in the second set, both teams were acting nearly on the same level. Then, the young Turks, dressed in white-red, came back to present a nearly impeccable performance.
They secured a comfortable advantage (14-10, 19-15) and closed the second set 25-18, not only because of the final 22 points of Pelin Eroktay, but also because of a great block performance of Dalia Wilson. But again, it was Slovenia with high spirits, who started the third set with a very solid performance, impressing with a 7-2 lead. Afterwards Turkey recorded five points in a row, tied 11-11 and then basically ended the game with a well earned success.
Rasit Berk Inanc, coach of Turkey: “We are getting close to the end of the tournament, so every day it is harder to deliver. After we lost the first set, it was difficult to find a way to play well again. I think, the problem of the first set, was the stress and the pressure, sometimes we forget that the players are really very young. But when they relaxed again, they started playing well.”
Russia vs Italy 2-3 (25-21, 16-25, 25-13, 24-26, 11-15)
In the replay of the final of the 2017 edition of #EuroVolleyU16W with Italy being the title-holders, Russia had a great start into the match with a 3-0 lead. But, in front of their home crowd, the young ‘Azzurrine’ didn’t stuck their heads in the sand, fought themselves into the match and made it a very well balanced one, which led to great excitement and long rallies.
Up to 21-21, there was no favourite to point out, but a few minor wrong decisions by Italy and a couple of well positioned blocks enabled the young Russians to net in the first set.
Same story in the second period: a tight match of two well performing teams. But this time it was Italy, who worked themselves into a 10-5 lead – and kept on going with a strong support through a great home crowd. Point for point they increased the lead. After 18-11 and the second timeout of Russia, the set was in clear hands of the young Italians. Third set, again with a three-point-lead for Russia, but this time, they didn’t give their lead out of the hands.
The fourth set began with an 8-8 tie, the match kept very exciting, and in the crucial phase of that set, Italy managed to have a small lead with Russia coming back to 21-23. Timeout Italy. But this didn’t stop the Russians, they took over, had even a match-point at 24-23, but, under great danger for the tympanic membranes of all people present in the PalaChiarbola, Italy fought back bravely and took the set in last minute. What a match! And the nail-biter went on. The tie-break started with a 3-3 tie, before Italy scored four points in a row to live on a comfortable lead, producing an 11-5 advantage and forcing Russia to take a timeout. And like in the final of the same competition two years ago, it was the girls from Italy celebrating and dancing after the match point (cashed by Marina Giacomello) on the court.
Pasquale D’Aniello, coach of Italy: “It was a very strong and exhausting match. We knew, the Russian team is taller and we only have a chance with our kind of game, with our block and our defense. In the second part of the match, when we changed the service and blocked better, we used our advantage. We made the final, ok, but tomorrow is just another game.”
Semifinals 5-8 in Zagreb
Serbia vs France 3-1 (25-20, 25-12, 15-25, 25-18)
As both teams didn’t manage to progress to the semifinals – Serbia finishing third, and France fourth in their respective pools, – they met in Zagreb to fight for places 5-8. After a very levelled play in the first set with a 11-11 tie, Serbia took the initiative with a ten-point-streak and some great services by Stefana Pakić, ending the set 25-20. With the boost from the first set, Serbia continued aggressively into the next set, keeping France at 13 points distance (25-12). After again a very equal start into set three, France started to punish Serbia’s mistakes, scoring six points in a row and finishing this set in their favour. The young Serbs, with a 3-0 lead in the fourth set, started playing with more focus and confidence, cruising to their fourth victory in the tournament. Maeva Schalk was the best player for France, scoring 13 points, while Serbia’s Stefana Pakić ended the match with 16 points, including 14 impressive winning spikes.
Željko Šćepanović, coach of Serbia: “After yesterday’s unexpected long trip from Trieste, we played exceptional during the first two sets, with a great performance from our girls. In the third set we brought France back in the game, due to our own mistakes, but we managed to focus and win the final set. Tomorrow we will play for fifth place, I hope once again against The Netherlands. Our goal is to win because being the fifth team in Europe is no small thing, it is a great lesson for all the future generations.”
Germany vs The Netherlands 2-3 (20-25, 25-21, 25-19, 24-26, 8-15)
After being just one set away from reaching the semifinals, Germany had to stay in Zagreb and wanted to make the best out of this situation. Thus, Germany's Sophia Schefner opened the match with three aces in a row, but soon the young 'Oranjes' levelled the score. As both teams had some great performances in #EuroVolleyU16W so far, this match didn’t lack the excitement either. With a very balanced first set, Holland took the initiative at the end and won it 25-20. The second set was another tight and exciting battle, but closer to the end Germany managed to make the crucial points. With a six-point-lead in the third set, Germany continued to push forward, led by an impressive service play by Mia Kirchhoff to finish it 25-19.
The match was on the edge as were the crowd, when the young Dutchies managed to delay a possible German celebration, winning the fourth set with a tight 26-24. Taking the momentum with them, The Netherlands also won the tiebreak, with 20 points from Nicole van de Vosse in total in the end.
Eelco Beijl, coach of the Netherlands: “The match was very intense, Germany outplayed us in the second and third set, and we were really lucky to win. Big compliment to my girls, they stayed really calm and focused, winning a really hard match.”
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