CEV - Confédération Européenne de Volleyball

14/09/2011 14:56 Bulgaria qualifies for 1/4 finals to play there Russian powerhouse 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, September 14, 2011. The Playoff phase of the EuroVolley 2011 started this afternoon at the “KV Arena” in Karlovy Vary with Bulgaria seeing off Estonia in straight sets. On Thursday the guys around Matey Kaziyski – bronze medalists from the 2009 European Championship in Turkey – will play Russia in a remake of the classification match from 2 years ago in Izmir. With their great team work, the Bulgarians clipped the opening set (25-20) by leading there always comfortably. The deciding break was claimed as the score stood at 13:12 with Todor Aleksiev that scored 6 points in a row for the group from the Balkan Peninsula. Estonia’s head coach Arvo Keel used his two time-outs to mobilize his players and with Oliver Venno and Ardo Kreek, they could cut the gap but the set ended in a flurry of mistakes that eventually paved the way for the final 25-20. Bulgaria dictated the tempo from the beginning also in set 2 with Kaziyski extremely effective while Estonia hit back with Oliver Venno to avert 4 set balls before Nikolov & Co. sealed the final 25-23. Estonia – once again with the help of Oliver Venno – got to the front for the first time in set 3 but could not keep that position after the second mandatory stop. Bulgaria went up 16:12 but some hard serving from Meelis Kivisild got Estonia back on track (16:15). The guys in blue jerseys drew level twice at 19 and 21 but Bulgaria stayed cool and Sokolov finished the job for the 3:0. Kert Toobal, Estonia’s captain, commented: “The strongest team qualified for the next round. We hope we were able to shake the Bulgarians and surprise them a bit. Kaziyski served well and we were not able to control his hits in defense. I am not disappointed. It was already a good result for us to be in the Playoffs, but I am sad we could not win any set this afternoon”. Head coach Arvo Keel added: “The difference between our two teams was that Bulgaria has players with top individual skills. This is how they have been so successful and able to get medals at major Championships”. Vladimir Nikolov, Bulgarian captain, singled out: “We are happy we managed to achieve a clear 3:0 victory. Our opponents were quite good, better than someone might have expected”. Radostin Stoychev, Bulgarian coach, concluded: “This match was hard from a psychological point of view. We knew we had to win. We expected the Estonians would make more mistakes at the end. Congratulations on their performance”. With their great team work, the Bulgarians clipped the opening set (25-20) by leading there always comfortably. The deciding break was claimed as the score stood at 13:12 with Todor Aleksiev that scored 6 points in a row for the group from the Balkan Peninsula. Estonia’s head coach Arvo Keel used his two time-outs to mobilize his players and with Oliver Venno and Ardo Kreek, they could cut the gap but the set ended in a flurry of mistakes that eventually paved the way for the final 25-20. Bulgaria dictated the tempo from the beginning also in set 2 with Kaziyski extremely effective while Estonia hit back with Oliver Venno to avert 4 set balls before Nikolov & Co. sealed the final 25-23. Estonia – once again with the help of Oliver Venno – got to the front for the first time in set 3 but could not keep that position after the second mandatory stop. Bulgaria went up 16:12 but some hard serving from Meelis Kivisild got Estonia back on track (16:15). The guys in blue jerseys drew level twice at 19 and 21 but Bulgaria stayed cool and Sokolov finished the job for the 3:0. Kert Toobal, Estonia’s captain, commented: “The strongest team qualified for the next round. We hope we were able to shake the Bulgarians and surprise them a bit. Kaziyski served well and we were not able to control his hits in defense. I am not disappointed. It was already a good result for us to be in the Playoffs, but I am sad we could not win any set this afternoon”. Head coach Arvo Keel added: “The difference between our two teams was that Bulgaria has players with top individual skills. This is how they have been so successful and able to get medals at major Championships”. Vladimir Nikolov, Bulgarian captain, singled out: “We are happy we managed to achieve a clear 3:0 victory. Our opponents were quite good, better than someone might have expected”. Radostin Stoychev, Bulgarian coach, concluded: “This match was hard from a psychological point of view. We knew we had to win. We expected the Estonians would make more mistakes at the end. Congratulations on their performance”.

14/09/2011 14:56
Bulgaria qualifies for 1/4 finals to play there Russian powerhouse
2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men

Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, September 14, 2011. The Playoff phase of the EuroVolley 2011 started this afternoon at the “KV Arena” in Karlovy Vary with Bulgaria seeing off Estonia in straight sets. On Thursday the guys around Matey Kaziyski – bronze medalists from the 2009 European Championship in Turkey – will play Russia in a remake of the classification match from 2 years ago in Izmir.

With their great team work, the Bulgarians clipped the opening set (25-20) by leading there always comfortably. The deciding break was claimed as the score stood at 13:12 with Todor Aleksiev that scored 6 points in a row for the group from the Balkan Peninsula. Estonia’s head coach Arvo Keel used his two time-outs to mobilize his players and with Oliver Venno and Ardo Kreek, they could cut the gap but the set ended in a flurry of mistakes that eventually paved the way for the final 25-20.

Bulgaria dictated the tempo from the beginning also in set 2 with Kaziyski extremely effective while Estonia hit back with Oliver Venno to avert 4 set balls before Nikolov & Co. sealed the final 25-23.

Estonia – once again with the help of Oliver Venno – got to the front for the first time in set 3 but could not keep that position after the second mandatory stop. Bulgaria went up 16:12 but some hard serving from Meelis Kivisild got Estonia back on track (16:15). The guys in blue jerseys drew level twice at 19 and 21 but Bulgaria stayed cool and Sokolov finished the job for the 3:0.

Kert Toobal, Estonia’s captain, commented: “The strongest team qualified for the next round. We hope we were able to shake the Bulgarians and surprise them a bit. Kaziyski served well and we were not able to control his hits in defense. I am not disappointed. It was already a good result for us to be in the Playoffs, but I am sad we could not win any set this afternoon”.

Head coach Arvo Keel added: “The difference between our two teams was that Bulgaria has players with top individual skills. This is how they have been so successful and able to get medals at major Championships”.

Vladimir Nikolov, Bulgarian captain, singled out: “We are happy we managed to achieve a clear 3:0 victory. Our opponents were quite good, better than someone might have expected”.

Radostin Stoychev, Bulgarian coach, concluded: “This match was hard from a psychological point of view. We knew we had to win. We expected the Estonians would make more mistakes at the end. Congratulations on their performance”.