Halle/Westphalia, Germany, September 7, 2013. In Pool A, host Germany and Turkey continued their winning streak with their second wins at EuroVolley 2013. Germany overpowered the Netherlands 3:2 (27-25, 20-25, 22-25, 25-23, and 15-9). Turkey proved too strong for Spain (25-13, 25-19, 25-15).
Game, set and match for Germany for the second time at 2013 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women after their hard-earned 3:2 win (27-25, 20-25, 22-25, 25-23, and 15-9) over the Netherlands on Saturday. In front of 6.500 fans ina great atmosphere in Halle’s Gerry Weber Stadium, hosts Germany booked their second win at EuroVolley 2013.
The Netherlands jumped out strongly with good serves by Femke Stoltenborg, taking an early 6-1 lead in the first set. Giovanni Guidetti quickly called a time-out. It seemed that he found the right words as the German Team drew level at 14-14. Margareta Kozuch and Christiane Fürst set the pace with strong attacks and blocks. The enthusiastic fans saw a hard-fought duel that was decided by two blocks from Fürst in the extension of the first set (27-25).
In the second set, the Netherlands led 4-1 before the Germans responded with solid attacks and a Christiane Fürst in genial mood. Germany went up 16-14. However, Gido Vermeulen’s team knew about the German difficulties in reception today. Robin de Kruijf scored five consecutive points by finding many gaps in the German block. The guests finished the set successfully 25-20.
In the third set, Guidetti changed his team on two important positions. Opposite Saskia Hippe and second setter Denise Hanke replaced Margareta Kozuch and Kathleen Weiss to bring a new spirit in a nervous team. Nevertheless, the situation didn't become better. The Netherlands dictated the pace of the game with an early 8-5 lead. The hosts could not compensate for their bad performance at the beginning and had to accept their defeat (22-25). For the Netherlands captain Maret Grothues convinced with 67% of successful attacks.
Germany fought back bravely in the fourth set (25-23) to move the Volleyball thriller to a fifth and deciding set. In the tie-break, Germany quickly took over command. Germany led 12-9 before Denise Hanke ended the hard-fought duel with three aces in a row. For the German team, Christiane Fürst played the key role and was the top scorer of the game with 23 points. On the other side, Anne Buijs performed very well with 22 points.
Germany captain Margareta Kozuch: “I´m glad that we won. It was a difficult game and I think there are many other games we have to give everything in the future in order to bring it home. The substitute players displayed a very strong game and had a big influence for our victory.”
Germany head coach Giovanni Guidetti: “The Netherlands have a very talented team. It was a very hard game and we had big problems with our side-out play, especially in the second and fourth set. The atmosphere probably made the difference today. We have the chance to reach the first place tomorrow. It will be the first “final” for us at this European Championship.”
The Netherlands head coach Gido Vermeulen: “Congratulations to the German team. Our performance was good. We have a young team. There are things we have to improve and we will do better in the next game.”
The Netherlands captain Maret Grothues: “I feel disappointed. We had the chance to win, but we didn't use this chance. At the end we made too many mistakes.”
Turkey demonstrate their strength versus Spain
Turkey booked their second consecutive win in the preliminary round of the 2013 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women by celebrating a straight-set win (25-13, 25-19, 25-15) over Spain. Like yesterday in the first two sets, Turkey showed an outstanding performance and dominated their opponents in almost all aspects of the game. Neslihan Darnel scored 12 times while Bahar Toksoy added 11 points for Turkey. Maria Isabel Fernandez Conde registered 11 for the Spanish team.
Right from the beginning, the favourites from Turkey set the pace and controlled the score quite easily (8-3). The Spanish team had no chance against one of the medal candidates. Consequently, Turkey sailed to a quick 25-13 set win.
In the second set, the Turkish team continued their forceful game to give Spain a hard time (8-4). Turkey’s captain Neslihan Darnel dominated with five points (57 %) in attack. The team of head coach Massimo Barbolini logically dominated throughout the entire set and thus extended their lead to 2:0.
Turkey kept momentum in the third and last set. Captain Neslihan Darnel continued to play the leading role in the Turkish team and wrapped up the set 25-15 and the match 3:0.
Turkey captain Neslihan Darnel: “It was a good game for us. Now we fully concentrate for Sunday’s top match versus host Germany.”
Turkey head coach Massimo Barbolini: “I´m really satisfied with the match. For us it was important to continue on a high level. We would like to finish Pool A in first place".
Spain head coach Francisco Hervas: “We played against a strong opponent. The result says all about the game. But I´m happy with the performance of my team.”
The Preliminary Phase of the 2013 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women is split into four pools of four teams with the top three from each pool advancing to the next competition stage. The first ranked teams of each pool are directly qualified for the quarterfinals, while the second and third ranked teams will fight for the last four quarterfinal tickets.
For the first time in history, 130 countries with all five continents involved cover the Women's EuroVolley.
CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women
Records of the last five editions
2011 in Italy/Serbia: Serbia (gold), Germany (silver), Turkey (bronze)
2009 in Poland: Italy (gold), the Netherlands (silver), Poland (bronze)
2007 in Belgium/Luxembourg: Italy (gold), Serbia (silver), Russia (bronze)
2005 in Croatia: Poland (gold), Italy (silver), Russia (bronze)
2003 in Turkey: Poland (gold), Turkey (silver), Germany (bronze)
CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women
All-time medal table
1. Russia (17 gold / 4 silver / 3 bronze), 2. Poland (2/4/5), 3. Germany (2/5/3), 4. Italy (2/2/2), 5. The Czech Republic (1/4/4), 6. The Netherlands (1/2/1), 7. Bulgaria (1/0/2), 8. Serbia (1/1/1), 9. Croatia (0/3/0), 10. Hungary (0/1/3), 11. Turkey (0/1/1), 12. Romania (0/0/1). 12. Ukraine (0/0/1).
World Ranking – Women (participating teams)
4. Italy, 6. Russia, 7. Serbia, 9. Germany, 11. Turkey, 13. Poland, 18. The Netherlands, 22. The Czech Republic, 31. Croatia, 31. Bulgaria, 36. Azerbaijan, 39. Belgium, 39. Belarus, 42. Spain, 42. France, 109. Switzerland.
For further information visit the official website or click here for a detailed match schedule of the prelims.