Tartu, Estonia, August 17, 2014. The Czech Republic struck Bulgaria in four sets (25-20, 25-17, 20-25, 25-17) on the second day of Preliminary Round action in Pool I of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women at Tartu’s A. Le Coq Sports Hall on Sunday afternoon. Serbia proved too strong for Greece (25-20, 25-13, 25-16) to improve their records to 2-0 while the Netherlands beat Estonia in straight sets as well (25-21, 25-21, 25-10).

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Michaela Mlejnkova led the Czech Republic to a well-deserved 3:1 win over an inconsistent Bulgarian team, contributing 22 points for her side. Anna Sucha and Eva Lakoma added 12 and 11 winners respectively. Bulgaria’s top scorer was Gergana Dimitrova with 17 kills. Excellent blocking (14 points) and serving (8 aces) helped the young Czech talents booking their first win at 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women.
After an early 14-7 lead for Bulgaria, the Bulgarian and Czech ladies went head to head until 19-19 in the first set but it were the Czechs, who really came out firing in the decisive moments. Both teams served tough, notching several service winners to give the opponent’s passers a hard time. The Czechs scored five consecutive points at the end of the set with Tiziana Baumrukova being the best example for effective service work. Bulgarian captain Gergana Dimitrova hammered the Mikasa in the solid Czech block to make it 25-20 for the Czech Republic.
The impressive comeback in the first set helped the team of head coach Ondrej Marek continuing their winning strategy in the second set. Another remarkable service series by Pavla Meidlova in the middle of the second period quickly gave the Czech Republic a comfortable lead. Five block winners were another strong argument for the Czechs who never looked back until the final 25-17.
Even though new Bulgarian setter Elena Dimitrova gave her teammates fresh hope in the third set (25-20), the Czech Republic kept cool in the fourth set, closing the set and match 25-17.
Czech Republic head coach Ondrej Marek: "I'm satisfied with our performance today but we have room to improve our game and I hope we'll get to the same level as in our preparation matches against Belgium."
Czech Republic captain Marie Kurkova: "I'm very happy with today's result, although we made some stupid mistakes. Our team fought hard in defence and the players were not anymore as nervous as they were yesterday."
Bulgaria head coach Petar Dochev: "We lost our aggressive serve and didn't show our best defence. We offered the Czech Republic the victory too easily."
Bulgaria captain Gergana Dimitrova: "Today, our team played only at 50% of our capabilities. We didn't serve well and made many mistakes by underestimating our opponents."

Serbia v Greece 3:0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16)

In Sunday’s second match of Pool I, 2012 runner-up Serbia made short work of their opponents from Greece, outplaying them in straight sets (25-20, 25-13, 25-16). It was Serbia’s second win at 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women after their 3:0 win versus Estonia on Saturday.
Best scorer of the match was Serbia’s opposite Tijana Boskovic with 13 points. Sara Lozo and Maja Aleksic helped their side with 11 kills each. Greece’s top scorer of the day was Anthi Vasilantonaki with 11 points as well.
The team of Greek head coach Konstantinos Papadopoulos started confidently, putting a lot of pressure on the Serbian passers. However, there was not much to separate the two teams in the early stages of the match. The young Serbian talents gradually started their engines with their impressive offense and solid block work (4 winners in the first set). Greece could not find a suitable answer to that power, offering Serbia the first set 25-20.
One set down, Greece lacked the energy and strength to challenge Serbia in the second set. Au contraire, the team of head coach Marijana Boricic gave a fine display of their supremacy by dominating their opponents in almost all aspects of the game. Vasilantonaki came up with some blistering winners from the right side but it was not good enough (25-13).
Although the young Greeks did not give up early in the third set, they were simply not good enough today to stop the powerful Serbian express. At the second technical time-out, Serbia led 16-11 and eventually clinched the set and match 25-16.
Serbia head coach Marijana Boricic: "I liked our game today, it was much better than yesterday. We passed well and committed less unforced errors.”
Serbia captain Tijana Boskovic: "I'm happy with our second straight-set victory. Now we'll start to prepare for our next opponent Bulgaria. We beat them 3:0 in the Balkan Championship.”
Greece head coach Konstantinos Papadopoulos: "We couldn't show the same level we played yesterday. Serbia pushed us with good serves and were more prominent at the net.”
Greece captain Anthi Vasilantonaki: "I'm mostly disappointed by the way we played. We had big problems in blocking and defence.”

Estonia v The Netherlands 0:3 (21-25, 21-25, 10-25)

Excellent teamwork, gutsy play and noisy home fans highlighted the clash between Estonia and the Netherlands which saw the visitors beat the hosts in three sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-10) in their second CEV U19 European Championship – Women Pool I encounter at A. Le Coq Sports Hall on Sunday night.
Best scorer in the Dutch team was Juliet Lohuis with 11 points. Kristiine Miilen scored 13 times for the home team. Except from the second set, the “Oranjes” suffered from a quite poor service reception but made the difference with a strong offense.
In front of 250 thrilled fans, the hosts jumped out bravely, leading by three points at the first technical time-out. The Dutch ladies experienced huge difficulties controlling the sharp Estonian serves. Nevertheless, the team of head coach Matt van Wezel remained calm, waiting for their chance to fire back. Indeed, four consecutive points from 21-21 to 25-21 eventually ended the first period in favor of the Netherlands.
It was still a tough fight in the second set with both teams committing less mistakes than in the opening phase of the match. Estonia stayed in touch until 17-17 but could not handle the Dutch pressure in the decisive moments of the set. The “Oranjes” steadily improved their passing to set up a powerful and quick offensive game at the end of the second set (25-21).
In the third set, the young Estonian talents could not tie in with their remarkable performance in the previous periods. The Dutch ladies quickly took command of the set and never looked back. Daphne Knijff hammered the Mikasa down at 25-10 to offer the Netherlands their first win in the competition.
The Netherlands head coach Matt van Wezel: "I'm satisfied with the second part of the match. Estonia served well in the beginning but we ended the match on a high note. We needed this win to stay in contention for the final phase of the tournament.”
Estonia head coach Peeter Vahtra: "We played pretty well for almost two sets but as our opponents started to serve better we lost our focus. Still, I believe that our team fought hard in defence and showed a good game."
Estonia top scorer Kristiine Miilen: "Actually I'm not that disappointed as we played with a good fighting spirit tonight. In the third set, the Dutch started to serve like champions and we lost our chance to come back."
The Netherlands captain Britt Bongaerts: “The key to success were our better serves towards the end of the match. It helped us to install our strong block.”

The Preliminary Phase of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women is split into two pools of six teams with the top two from each pool advancing to the semifinals and the third and fourth ranked teams making it to the classification matches 5-8.

Picture: The Bulgarian spikers did not find much space to overcome the strong Czech block (14 block winners)