Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, September 11, 2011. After their long match with Portugal on Saturday, the home guys of the Czech Republic enjoyed today a relatively easy task as they edged Estonia in straight sets for the joy of more than 5’000 fans in Karlovy Vary.

The Czechs looked extremely determined to make their way to the next phase of the competition while Estonia was supported by a loud and colorful crew and responded with good blocks to the attacks of the home guys. Jan Stokr and middle blocker Jakub Vesely contributed many points for the Czech team in the opening set which eventually ended at 25-20 for the home side.

Estonia did not really adjust to the Czech game in set 2, as the group around Stokr displayed quite many options in attack; Estonia’s libero Asko Esna was excellent in defense but the blue attackers regularly crashed against the Czech block, with Popelka and Konecny being outstanding in this fundamental. Quick hits and excellent distribution in attack paved the way for the final 3:0 whereby the home team is automatically qualified for the next round of the competition, most probably for the Playoffs depending on the result of the last match of the prelims against Russia.

Estonia’s team captain Kert Toobal said: “Congratulations to the Czech team, they have qualified for the next round. Today we had many ups and downs, making many stupid mistakes. If you are trailing down by 4-5 points it’s hard to come back. We hope we will show our best play tomorrow against Portugal”.

His mentor Avo Keel added: “If you look at the efficiency in attack, one team was a bit worse, one a bit better. But what we couldn’t do is to prevent their middle blockers from attacking. That is what influenced and determined today’s result. The most important day for us will be tomorrow as we play Portugal”.

Ondrej Hudecek, captain of the Czech Republic, said: “This victory is significant. Tomorrow we can play without stress against Russia and hopefully get a good result. As for the next phase, in my opinion everything is possible against the teams coming from Prague”.

Czech coach Jan Svoboda concluded: “It was an important day. We played much better than yesterday. I never look back and deal with past matches, balls or exchanges. I always concentrate on the future. We have evenly good players on various positions: 3 outside hitters, 2 diagonal players, 2 middle blockers and 2 setters. I am convinced we have a very balanced team”.