Luxembourg, January 15, 2021. Israel recorded their first victory at the #EuroVolleyM Qualifier in Pool B, emerging victorious from a thrilling 5-set match versus Austria. In a fixture that lasted 129 minutes, Israel and Austria were keeping the intrigue alive during all the five sets, both showing their best play. Despite all the efforts of Austrian star Alexander Berger to turn things around, the Israeli team stood better in the decisive moments, inspired by the head coach's words Noam Katz that they were "a bunch of winners". The favourites in Pool C, Turkey continue with their excellent performance at the Qualifier taking place in Skopje, and don’t let any unexpected surprises take their eyes off of the big goal: the ticket to the EuroVolley Finals. On Friday, the players coached by Nedim Özbey outclassed in all the components the team of Bosnia & Herzegovina seizing a straight-sets victory in a match that lasted only 60 minutes.
Austria v Israel 2-3 (21-25, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20, 11-15)
• Israel started better in the match thanks to a good performance on the block. Austria also pushed hard on attack and improved their game on the net. Niklas Kronthaler and Viacheslav Batchkala from Austria and Israel respectively were the ones stealing the show in these moments. The players of Radovan Gacic, however, struggled with their service, making six errors in the first set, which eventually ended in favour of Israel.
• A close game with some long and inspiring rallies marked the next section of the match. All eyes were on Alexander Berger from Team Austria who was leading his team on serve and with successful attacks.
• In the third set, both Austria and Israel fought hard but the Israeli players were more precise in the decisive moments. However, in the next part the players around coach Noam Katz seemed to have lost a little bit of concentration, and the Austrians grabbed the opportunity to bring this match into a tie-break.
• Israel started the fifth set more convincingly and set the pace from beginning to end. Israeli star Tamir Hershko closed the match with a sharp spike for the 15th point.
• Alexander Berger became top scorer of the match, recording 33 points. For the winners, Hershko registered 21.
"At the beginning of the game we made some fundamental mistakes. We didn't perform as we imagined in defence. In this phase only, we made 12 mistakes! The second set was pretty okay, we had found our rhythm in reception and attack. We only had to take that with us in the third, but then we had a blackout of five points in the middle. This was the turning point. We have to win against Bulgaria. This is what we have to do. We have to try everything tomorrow, to the last point!", Radovan Gacic, head coach of Team Austria stated.
Austrian libero Florian Georg Ringseis: “This loss is very disappointing. Israel did nothing that was surprising. Well, they changed the line-up a bit, but in the end, everyone played as we expected. We did not get to our top level. We lacked energy, strength and wit. It will not be easy against Bulgaria, but a victory is possible. We will give everything, since we have nothing more to lose: 110% with every ball!”
“I am happy with the victory, but you have to understand that you need patience. I am so satisfied with our work, we are improving from game to game, our players were under pressure, and I take my hat off to the players who despite the first losses remained solid as a team,” said Israeli coach Noam Katz. “When we play against European teams, it takes our players some time to get used to the level. The players invest their energy and do not break down; they behave exemplary in this tournament. Everyone who played gave their best; there are some elements we need to improve, it will take time but it will happen in the end.”
Viacheslav Batchkala, player of Israel: “In the first game with Austria, we lost a close match and that was painful, and against Bulgaria we suffered a painful loss as well. I am glad we won this game, we can get to the situation against the Bulgarians that if we win, we will have a chance to qualify for the European Championship. That is what symbolises our team today. All the respect to Noam Katz who found the right combination to make the team work so well and effectively.”
On Saturday, Austria meet Bulgaria who have two victories out of two matches so far. In order to preserve any chances of proceeding ahead, the Austrian players should mandatory take the win over the Bulgarian Lions.
Turkey v Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-18)
• Adis Lagumdzija and his teammates came out with all guns blazing, making it difficult for their opponents. Team Bosnia & Herzegovina couldn’t react to the sharp attacks of Turkey.
• The Bosnian players stood better in the next minutes of the match, as they improved their game on attack. Still, this wasn’t enough as the Turkish defence worked perfectly. To no surprise, Turkey took the second and third sets thanks to great contribution by Yiğit Gülmezoglu.
• Team Turkey had 63% efficiency on attack, scored 4 aces and recorded 11 blocks in the process.
• Efe Bayram became top scorer of the match with 10 points, followed by Metin Toy and Oguzhan Karasu with 9 apiece.
"We are very happy to have won three matches so far. Tomorrow, we meet Team MKD. We believe that we will win and will grab the ticket to EuroVolley. There, we will see what will happen, but I think we have a big potential," Faik Samed Günes, player of Turkey said.
"We want to thank to the Macedonian organisers who made it possible for this tournament to happen. Our team is very young, we have to work hard in the future to arrive where we want to be. But I hope that we will do it, and someday we will be at Finals of European Championship," Sanjin Bezdrob, player of Bosnia & Herzegovina stated.
