24/09/2011 21:49
Czech Republic outfight Romania in the second match of Pool C
2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Women
Zrenjanin, Serbia, September 24, 2011 – World No. 21 Czech Republic sealed to a straight-set victory over World No. 33 Romania in their first match of Pool C at 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women. The victory in Crystal Hall in Zrenjanin in front of 1,000 spectators was well deserved for the Czech (29-27, 25-19, 25-16).
Best scorer in the second match of Pool C was Aneta Havlickova with 23 points for Czech Republic, whilst Nneka Obiamaka Onyejekwe scored ten points for Romania.
The first set was exciting as both teams were taking turns in the lead. At the end of the set, both teams were fighting to win, but the Czechs had more luck, being more focused, calm and concentrated in the decisive moments. Romania had two set points and the opportunity to take a set 1-0 lead, but the Czech team used their third set point to close it out in extremis 29-27.
Czech Republic used the psychological advantage from the first set to start the second period very determinate right from the very beginning. The difference between the two teams wasn’t that big, but more than enough for a convincing 25-19 and 2-0 lead.
In the third set, the Czech domination reached its climax, already announcing the end of the match. Even when the Romanians managed to pull back and reduce the gap, it was finally the Czech Republic to close the set out 25-16, and the match 3-0.
Czech Republic head coach Jiri Siller: “We started today’s match a little bit nervous. We know that the opponent had more experience than we have, but we managed to win the first set. After that, we succeeded in keeping our tempo; we played better and our performance stayed at a high level. Now, we are preparing for our second opponent.”
Czech Republic captain Ivana Plchotova: “I’m very happy. We are aware that we won the first set with great luck; we made many mistakes. But we didn’t forget what we know, we played better and better, so we won the other two sets quite easily.”
Romania head coach Darko Zakoc: “Congrats to the team of Czech Republic, their performance was at the top and they deserved to win. Unfortunately, the first match we played in this competition was against them. The first set was decisive, and I’m aware that we weren’t at our best. I hope we will play better in our next match.”
Romania captain Elena Butnaru: “Congratulations to the Czech team, they played very well and hard. Our team played not that bad at the beginning, but afterwards, we didn’t continue in that manner, the reception became poor. I hope we’ll play much better tomorrow, better than we did today.”
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