Nitra, Slovakia, August 29, 2014.  Russia made a fantastic start of its campaign in the Final Round of the 2014 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship – Men, winning the first match in Pool I in Nitra by 3:0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-15) against France.  Bulgaria followed up with a 3:0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) shutout against home side Slovakia.  Finally Italy wrapped up the first competition day at Nitra’s City Hall with a 3:0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-19) knockdown for Serbia.

Russia vs. France 3:0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-15)

The Russians completely dominated after the first technical time-out.  They pushed France with very good serving and strong net defense building a large point difference and winning the first set by 25-14 with setter and captain Pavel Pankov acing for the last point.  Russia’s dominance continued in the following two sets, when the opponent was never allowed to take the lead.  The French players could not find an answer and Russia won the sets by 25-13 and 25-15 starting the tournament in great fashion.

Victor Poletaev was the best scorer with 11 points for Russia.  His teammate Ilia Vlasov and France’s Timothee Carle made 10 points each.

Luka Basic, captain of France:  "We are very sad, because we did not play the way we expected.  I think that serving and reception were the keys to our defeat."

Pavel Pankov, captain of Russia:  "We are happy, because we played really very well as a team today.  We knew that France is a dangerous opponent and we needed to stay concentrated throughout the match.  We made a good start and I hope we will continue like this."

Jocelyn Trillon, head coach of France:  "We knew that Russia is a very strong team and it showed it on the court.  But I think that we could have done more.  My team did not play well.  We did not perform well in reception and serving and it was impossible to play.  We have to play better in the next days."

Sergey Shlyapnikov, head coach of team Russia:  "I am satisfied.  We had very good serving and the combination between the setter and the other players was perfect.  My players were concentrated throughout the match and that is important.  I always want from my players to stay concentrated.  We had a great match and I am happy for this good start of the tournament."

Bulgaria was always a few steps ahead in the first set.  Slovakia came back from three-point deficits twice, but Bulgaria was better and won by 25-21.  Bulgaria made a good start in the second set and led by 6-4, but then the Slovakian players improved their serves and put the opponents under pressure.  The home team was up by 18-14, but wasted the lead.  The Bulgarian players were strong at the net and turned the score from 16-19 to 24-19 winning the set by 25-20. With great spiking and blocking, Bulgaria dominated the third set for 25-17 and collected important three points from its first game in Nitra.

Velizar Chernokozhev topped the scorers’ chart of the match with 15 points for the winning team.  Mihail Tsvetanov and Trifon Lapkov added 12 each, while Filip Gavenda became Slovakia’s best scorer with 10 points.

Filip Gavenda, player of Slovakia:  "We started very nervously.  Bulgaria had good reception and it was hard to defend against their attacks.  We had a chance in the second set, but we made unforced errors and we wasted a four-point lead.  This is a bad start of the tournament, but it is just the first day and we will try to play better in the next matches."

Pavel Ivanov, captain of Bulgaria:  “I am very happy that we started with a win, it is very important for the rest of the tournament.  We played very well as a team and it was the key to our victory.  I hope we will play like this in the next matches as well.”

Miroslav Palgut, head coach of Slovakia:  “We started the match nervously, our serving was not good and we had fear.  We were able to come back several times in the first set, but finally we lost.  We were up in the second set, we had pressured our opponents with good serving, but we lost it all in one position.  We lost self-confidence in the third set, the Bulgarian team read our game and used its height advantage.”

Nikolay Jeliazkov, head coach of Bulgaria:  “The first match of the tournament is always important.  I am happy that we have three points.  We were concentrated during the whole match and I think the key to the game was in the second set.  We had lost the lead, but fortunately we had a series of serves in rotation 6 and we managed to win the important second set.”

Serbia had the first set under the control.  The young players from the Balkans served very well and led by 21-17, but the Italian players came back to turn things around to a 25-22 in their favor.  The second set was very close, Serbia led by 23-21, but Italy was once again better in the conclusive moments and won by 25-23.  Serbia came back from 10-13 in the third set, but the Italian team established its domination in the second part of the set and won by 25-19.

Italy’s Ferdinando Della Volpe and Serbia’s Lazar Dodic were the best scorers of the match with 10 points each.

Stevan Simic, captain of Serbia:  "We are sad because, we were leading in the first set by four or five points and we lost.  Our reception was falling and falling and that was our problem.  It is bad to play against a team like Italy with bad reception, because they have a good block.  We also made a lot of mistakes in serving and defense.  We will meet strong Russia tomorrow, but we will fight."

Tiziano Mazzone, captain of Italy:  "We are very happy for this victory.  We played like a team and that was important.  Serbia is a good team and we are satisfied that we beat them in three sets. The first and the second sets were difficult, but we found a way to win.  The first match is always important in each tournament."

Sinisa Reljic, head coach of Serbia:  "I did not expect that we would play so badly on the first day.  We started well, but in the end of the set we lost concentration and we were not able to finish it off.  The second set was the same.  The Italian team played well, but nothing special.  We were the problem in this game, because we made a lot of unforced errors.  We have to discuss it with the players, because when we will play like this, we will lose all the matches.  We will meet Russia tomorrow and we will not give up before the match, but we know that they are best team here."

Michele Totire, head coach of Italy:  "I am happy for my guys.  We have been working together for four months.  My team showed character today, because we were down in the first two sets.  This match is very important for us and our future in this tournament and I hope that we will play even better in the next matches.  Tomorrow we will play against host Slovakia and I think it is a strong team.  It is difficult for them to play at home, because they are under pressure."