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In today’s opening match of Pool I, Greece overcame the Czech Republic 3:1 (21-25, 25-10, 25-18, 25-21). The Greeks needed some time to start their engines in the first set, but quickly responded with a more sophisticated game as from the second set.
Greek captain Anthi Vasilantonaki was the leader on the court with 19 winners. Michaela Mlejnkova scored 17 points for the Czech Republic. Strong serves (11 aces) and a better passing performance were other reasons for Greece’s inspiring 3:1 win.
After a nervous start from both teams, the Czech Republic gained a minor lead with a classy collective game. Greece narrowed the 18-24 gap in the end but could not catch up.
Greece bounced back strongly after the first phase and turned the tables in the second set (25-10!). The Czechs experienced major difficulties in passing while the squad of Greek head coach Konstantinos Papadopoulos showed an impressive performance.
Even though the young Czech talents did their best to come back in the third and fourth set, it was already too late. Greek outside hitter Alexandra Psoma hammered the Mikasa down for a well-deserved 25-21 set and 3:1 match win.
Greece captain Anthi Vasilantonaki: "I'm really happy with the team's performance. Everyone did their best and we helped each other."
Czech Republic head coach Marek Ondrej: "We didn't play well today and I think that the biggest problem was in our heads. Still, the tournament is long and our goal is to improve our game and play for the top 8 places."
Czech Republic captain Marie Kurkova: "The Greeks were better in attack today and they wanted that victory more than we did."

Bulgaria v the Netherlands 3:2 (21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8)

A determined Bulgarian team showed its fans excellent teamwork to pull off a hard-fought 3:2 (21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8) victory over the Netherlands in the second clash in Pool I of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women at Tartu’s A. Le Coq Hall on Saturday.
Best scorer of the match was Bulgaria’s outstanding captain Gergana Dimitrova, contributing 28 points for her team. Daphne Knijff scored 21 kills for the Netherlands.
The first set started hardly contested. The young Bulgarians experienced some problems with their passing as the Dutch girls served extremely powerful. As a consequence, the team of Matt van Wezel enjoyed a hard-earned first set win (25-21). However, Bulgaria kept cool in the second and third set by improving their reception and by taking more risk from the service line. Although the “Oranjes” led 21-20 at the end of the third set, it were the Bulgarian talents who scored five consecutive points to take a well-deserved 2:1 set lead.
The Netherlands regained momentum in the fourth set with excellent blocking and two service winners. Bulgaria managed to close the gap to 21-24 at the end of the set but eventually could not stop the powerful attack from Dutch middle blocker Tessa Polder.
However, it was not good enough. Bulgaria seized the initiative right from the start of the deciding set and never looked back. Top scorer Gergana Dimitrova finished the match with a back row attack to close the set and match out 15-8 for Bulgaria.
Bulgaria head coach Petar Dochev: "The Netherlands were a tough opponent and I'm really glad that we started the tournament with a victory.”
Bulgaria captain Gergana Dimitrova: "We started the match lazy but managed to find our good serves. It made it possible to play more efficiently."
The Netherlands captain Janieke Popma: "Our start was really good but in the second set we made too many mistakes and let the Bulgarian team come into the game.”
The Netherlands head coach Matt van Wezel: "It's always more fun to win but I'm just a little disappointed. We played really well in two sets against this tough opponent. Bulgaria showed a strong game and deserved to win today."

Estonia v Serbia 0:3 (18-25, 19-25, 21-25)

In Saturday’s last Pool I duel, 2012 runner-up Serbia overpowered a brave Estonian team in straight sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-21). Even though the hosts put all their heart into the game, they could not stand the pace the favorites from Serbia displayed.
Tijana Boskovic was the best scorer of tonight’s match with 18 points. Outside hitter Bojana Milenkovic added another 13. Serbia booked 12 block winners, Estonia only 5. Best scorer of the hosts was Kristiine Miilen with 8 kills.
In the first two sets, the Serbian team quickly took control of the game. Nevertheless, the brave local heroines never gave up and came back twice. Exemplary was the situation at the end of the second set when the Estonians trailed 4-17 before firing back until 19-25.
In the third set, the match was more balanced (18-18). However, the young Serbian talents kept cool in the decisive moments of the set and eventually never looked back (25-21).
Serbia head coach Marijana Boricic: "I'm glad with the final result but it was tough for us to come into this first match as favorites. I didn't like our important number of mistakes in attack. We struggled in reception as well. If we want to reach the semifinals, we’ll have to improve our game."
Serbia captain Tijana Boskovic: "Our team played quite well today and I'm happy with the start of the tournament. Tomorrow we'll try to prepare well against Greece and play as good as we can."
Estonia head coach Peeter Vahtra: "I knew that Serbia was strong but they showed such a good level today. They are the undisputed favourite in our pool. I'm satisfied with the amount of points we got in each set but we made some bad decisions that I would like to avoid in the future."
Estonia captain Hanna-Loore Õunpuu: "The quality of our game was even better than I expected. We were fighting hard but we committed still too many unforced errors. Respecting the strength of our opponents the game in total was not bad at all."

Two weeks before the men’s U20 national teams will battle for medals in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Estonia and Finland are in the spot light for the prominent CEV event at Tartu’s A. Le Coq Sports Hall that hosts Pool I and Tampere’s Exhibition and Sports Centre featuring Pool II. The classic powers Italy, Serbia, and Turkey might be the favorites for the crown of the prestigious CEV under 19 age category competition. However, a serious prediction in this age group is difficult. Small details can make a difference. 

A total of 38 matches are played during the tournament, running from August 16-24, 2014.

All matches to be played in Tartu are streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv.

Click here for more info on the Final Round of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women.