Brno, Czech Republic, August 29, 2014. Belgium and Turkey made a promising start to the competition in Pool II of the 2014 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship - Men and engaged in an exciting five-set battle in the first match in Nitra. The Belgians triumphed victorious snatching the win by 3:2 (25-19, 25-27, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13). Then Romania and the Czech Republic entertained the spectators with a five-set drama that ended at 3:2 (14-25, 25-20, 25-13, 23-25, 15-12) Romania’s way. Slovenia tried to put up a fight against pool favorite Poland, but could not get quite as far as a tie-breaker set, losing the match by 1:3 (15-25, 17-25, 25-20, 16-25).
Belgium vs. Turkey 3:2 (25-19, 25-27, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13)
The Belgians rushed to 10-2 lead at the beginning of the first match. Their great serving efforts brought them 5 aces while the Turks were helping with far too many errors towards the final 25-19. With improved offense and blocking Turkey took control of the second set to open up a 6-point gap. Belgium gradually fought back to tie at 18-18 and even took the lead for a set point at 25-24, but could not hold on to it as Turkey closed the set winning the next three rallies. Belgium caught up with an early Turkish lead in set 3 to take control after 11-11 and win it by 25-20. Turkey looked for an answer in a roller-coaster fourth set with the lead going back and forth several times and found it in improved spiking efficiency that led to a 25-22 and a decisive fifth set. The tie-breaker was close with the gap never opening wider than 2 points. Belgium had the initiative through the most part of the set and Lou Kindt finished the set off at 15-13 and the match at 3:2 with a beautiful hit for the last point.
He also became the top scorer of the match with 19 points for Belgium’s victory. His teammate Jonas Colson, as well as three Turkish players – Vahit Emre Savas, Yasin Aydin and Mehmet Hacioglu, ended up with 13 points each.
Dogukan Ulu, player of Turkey: “We lost the game because of our own mistakes. We are very disappointed, but we have to continue with the good things from today’s game and win the next matches.”
Sander Depovere, captain of Belgium: “First game and five sets - it is already really hard for us. They were good, physically much better than us, but we were smarter and we did it. We achieved our first goal.”
Ali Umit Hizal, head coach of Turkey: “We did not play well in the first set, we made many mistakes in our play. We got better in the second set, but again failed the third and we started playing as a team in the fourth. We lost the tie-breaker, again because of our own mistakes. That is a pity, but we have to focus on the next match and play more like a team.”
Joel Banks, head coach of Belgium: “I think it was a very tough game, Turkey is good team. They play well in blocking and defense, they are strong in attack. We had to play every single ball at one hundred percent. I am very happy. I think it was enough for 3:2, both teams were quite even, but we managed to stay calm and took two points.”
Czech Republic vs. Romania 2:3 (25-14, 20-25, 13-25, 25-23, 12-15)
Inspired by an enthusiastic home crowd on the stands, the Czechs ran over the Romanians in the first set winning it by an impressive 25-14. In the second set, it was Romania’s turn to strike back, while the home side started committing more mistakes. The Balkan team stepped up its spiking efforts and after 25-20 tied the match at 1:1. Set 3 was completely one-sided. Precision performance, good blocking and too many unforced errors by the opponent gave Romania a convincing 25-13 win. The next set was by far the most exciting this far. The Romanians were in control through the most part, but the Czechs had the initiative in the beginning and, when it matters the most, in the end of the set. Superb blocking garnished by those final spikes by Tomas Pavelka and David Janku led to 25-23 and prompted a tie-breaker. In the decisive set, this time the Romanians managed to hold on to their lead they took at the beginning. The home side showed some character coming back to a point behind at 12-13, but two fantastic kill blocks by Marius Iftime and Claudiu Dumitru put an end to it all at 15-12.
Romania’s captain Adrian Aciobanitei contributed 23 points to become the best scorer of the game. Donovan Dzavoronok was the most prolific Czech player with 17.
David Janku, captain of Czech Republic: “We lost concentration after a good first set and they were in advance. We relied on the first two matches which we should have won, but with our play today we must be happy with the one point.”
Mihai Tarta, player of Romania: “We are very happy for the victory. I think except for the first set, we were a little better. The Czechs made many mistakes and it is a pity we have taken just two points, but that is still a good start of the tournament for us.”
Jindrich Licek, head coach of Czech Republic: “It was a terrible match. We won the first set, but it does not mean anything. Since the second set we were scared of the ball. We did not move, shout, we were not aggressive... It is not possible to play volleyball like this. I do not know what happened.”
George Valentin Grigorie, head coach of Romania: “We know that the first game is always difficult, especially against the home team. We played very badly in the first set, but after that I think we got better, made fewer mistakes than the opponent and finished with the victory. We are very happy now, but we have to focus on the next match.”
Slovenia vs. Poland 1:3 (15-25, 17-25, 25-20, 16-25)
With noisy support for both teams from the stands, Poland pressured the opponent with strong serving and spiking and cruised to a convincing 25-15 win in the first set. However Poland’s best scorer in the first set Pawel Gryc sustained an injury at 12-9 in the second and had to be supported off the court. This may have slowed Poland down a little as Slovenia narrowed the gap to only a point at 15-16, but then captain Aleksander Sliwka stepped in to lead the Polish attack towards another wide margin – 25-17. Slovenia tremendously improved its reception and stepped up its efforts in offense in the next set. It also took advantage of the increased number of mistakes on Poland’s side to establish control and win by 25-20. The surprised Poles shifted gear again in the fourth set and regained the initiative. It was Slovenia’s turn to commit a lot of errors and Poland managed to open a wide gap again. The final 25-16 was shaped up with a nice double block by Sliwka and Jakub Zwiech.
Aleksander Sliwvka piled up an impressive 25 points on his tally. Slovenia’s top scorers, Toncek Stern and Primoz Vidmar had 14 points each.
Jernej Vrhunc, captain of Slovenia: “It was a good match for us. The tournament has just started. We hope that we could win some of the remaining matches in our pool.”
Rafal Szymura, player of Poland: “We did not play as well as we can, but to us the victory is the most important. The match was nervous from our side, but we managed to pass beyond that and won by 3:1. It is a very nice present for my birthday today.”
Iztok Ksela, head coach of Slovenia: “We started badly, but after that we were satisfied with our performance, because Poland’s team is on top level. I am very satisfied with our play in the third set. We played very well and if we will play like this tomorrow, we could win.”
Jacek Nawrocki, head coach of Poland: “Slovenia played very well and very offensively. The injury of our opposite created a little problem for us. Of course, we are happy for win, but we have to focus on the Belgian team tomorrow. It is also a very well organized team and its going to be good physically after the win over Turkey.”
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