Tampere, Finland, August 17, 2014. Coming off from a surprising 3:2 win over tournament favorites Italy on Saturday, Belgium added another big victory to their 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women campaign by beating powerhouse Russia in four sets (21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-17) on Sunday. Slovenia booked their second win as well, overcoming host Finland in straight sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-21). On the other hand, Italy suffered their second defeat in their second match (1:3 versus Turkey), thus destroying the Italian hopes for a semifinal ticket early in the tournament.
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Belgium v Russia 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-17)
Even though Belgium lost the first set, they came back strongly to dominate their opponents from Russia as desired. Belgium hit 14 aces throughout the match, Russia only 5. Best scorer of the Belgian team was Celine Van Gestel with 18 points. Anastasia Barchuk contributed 11 points for Russia.
The fans saw a good start of the match with excellent digs and attacks on both sides. The score was tied until 21-21 before Russia scored four consecutive points to take a hard-earned 1:0 set lead.
In the second set Russia lost grip quickly. Belgium gained momentum with 16 attack kills while Russia only had half of it.
Belgium controlled the third set as well but not that easily anymore. The Western Europeans built especially on their efficient serving, giving the Russian passers a hard time. Belgium eventually ended the set 25-20 in their favor.
The team of head coach Julien Van de Vyver kept the pace high in the fourth set and never looked back until the final 25-17.
Russia head coach Petr Kobrin: “Belgium is a good team. Yesterday they beat Italy and now they beat us. They alternate quite well quick and high balls. We could not find appropriate solutions to stop them.”
Belgium head coach Julien Van de Vyver: “We controlled the match as planned. In the first set we missed some power but as from the second set, we found our rhythm with fast attacks, good defence and strong serves. The players kept calm, I am very satisfied with their attitude.”
Slovenia v Finland 3:0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21)
After their outstanding win versus titleholder Turkey on Saturday, Slovenia booked another straight-set win against host Finland (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon to take the lead in Pool II with a perfect 2-0 (6-0) record. Slovenia showed good nerves in the decisive moments of the sets, proving too strong for the hosts. Lana Scuka was Slovenia’s best scorer with 20 points. Piia Korhonen scored 17 times for Finland. Both teams served well. Slovenia hit 11 aces, Finland 6.
Finland jumped out for an 18-15 lead in the first set but could not pull through. Slovenia increased their power from the service line what turned out to be the key element of the first set. At 20-19, the young Slovenians turned the tables and never looked back until the final 25-20.
The story of the match did not change much in the second and third set as the Finns had several chances to tie the match. However, strong serves and more consistent play by the Slovenians vanished the Finnish hopes for their first win at 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women into thin air (19-25, 21-25).
Slovenia head coach Joze Casar: “We knew that this match was going to be tough. Finland played very well against Russia. Finland started well today but our team is mentally strong and came back imposingly. Strong serve is our main weapon, giving us the chance to play good block and defence.”
Finland head coach Aapo Rantanen: “I cannot be very happy after losing 0-3. We didn’t come here to lose matches in straight sets. There were some small things which we should have done differently. Slovenia was better at the ends of the sets. We could not find the extra gear we would have needed in the decisive moments of the match.”
Italy v Turkey 1:3 (16-25, 25-11, 22-25, 18-25)
Turkey was the happy winner against Italy in a four-set battle in Tampere on Sunday evening. Turkey improved their records to 1-1 while Italy remain on the fifth rank of Pool II with only one point. Turkey displayed great team spirit to overcome their contenders with a powerful game 25-16, 11-25, 25-22, 25-18.
Pelin Aroguz was Turkey’s best spiker scoring 22 points. Paola Egonu contributed 26 points for her side but could not prevent her team from suffering its second defeat in the competition.
Strong attacks helped Turkey to a flying start into Sunday’s important clash between two of the tournament’s favorites. The Italians were still shocked by their unexpected loss against Belgium the day before, committing too many mistakes in the early stages of the match (16-25).
However, Italy fought back bravely in the second set, putting more pressure on the Turkish passers and showing a completely different fighting spirit. Turkey totally lost focus for a while, suffering an 11-25 loss in the second period.
The key moment of the match occurred at 16-15 for Italy in the third set when the team of Turkish head coach Mustafa Suphi Doganci scored six consecutive points to turn the tables from 15-16 to 21-16 in its favor.
Italy could not deal with the setback, finding no solution to stop the confident Turks for the rest of the match (22-25, 18-25).
Turkey head coach Mustafa Suphi Doganci: “The first day of the tournament was bad for us, but now everything turned out well. Italy was one of the favorites in this tournament but today we played tactically well and took advantage of their weak points. I hope we can continue in that way for the rest of the tournament.”
Italy head coach Davide Mazzanti: “We didn’t play our game today. I don’t know what went wrong. Everything was bad. What we did during our preparation, we suddenly forgot. It’s a pity.”
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. A total of 38 matches will be played during the tournament, running from August 16-24, 2014.
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.
All matches to be played in Tartu are being streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv.
Picture: Italy's top scorer Paola Egonu tries her best to overcome the Turkish wall but eventually could not prevent her team from suffering their second defeat at 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women.
Click here for more info on the Final Round of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women.