Click here for a comprehensive picture gallery.

Coming off from an unexpected 1:3 defeat versus the Czech Republic on Sunday, the young Bulgarians quickly grew in confidence in the beginning of the match versus tournament favorites Serbia. The young Bulgarians displayed strong defense, leading 11-5 in the middle of the first set. However, the Serbians slowly started their engines, putting more pressure on the Bulgarian passers. Both teams committed many mistakes in that phase of the game, either from the service line or in attack. After the second technical time-out, Serbia gained the upper hand and never looked back until 25-21.
Momentum had definitely changed on Serbia’s side early in the second set. The young Serbian talents proved their supremacy especially at the net with rigorous spikes and good block work. Tijana Boskovic and Maja Aleksic were the main forces on the Serbian side while Gergana Dimitrova did her best for Bulgaria. Serbia played more consistently to win the second set 25-18.
Even though Bulgaria led 12-4 and 21-16 in the third set, they could not pull through. As often in difficult situation, Serbia geared up with second setter Aleksandra Brdovic serving six times in a row to close the set 25-22 and the match 3:0 in their favor.
Serbia head coach Marijana Boricic: "I actually expected that kind of start into the tournament as we played both Greece and Bulgaria during the Balkan Championships and won twice 3:0 as well. I'm proud of my team today as we came back strongly in the first and third set.”
Serbia captain Tijana Boskovic: "I think today we played our best game so far. We are very happy and hope to go on in this way.”
Bulgaria head coach Petar Dochev: "I guess some decisions were not in our favor in the first set what did not help us to pull through. In the second set we started to experience problems in reception what made it very difficult against the strong Serbian blockers.”
Bulgaria captain Gergana Dimitrova: "We played pretty well today but Serbia was the better team. No matter what happened today, we are still confident to make it to the finals.”

The Netherlands v the Czech Republic 0:3 (20-25, 23-25, 22-25)

The Czech Republic outshined the Netherlands 3:0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-22) on the third competition day of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women. The result was a copy of the second round qualification match when the Czech Republic beat the Netherlands with the same score. Michaela Mlejnkova with 17 points and Anna Sucha (16) led their team with excellent attack skills. Daphne Knijff contributed 9 kills for the Netherlands.
The fans in Tartu’s A. Le Coq Sports Hall were treated to a spectacle in Monday’s second Pool II duel as both teams showed no signs of fatigue after the first two competition days. The Dutch and the Czechs could not gain any significant lead as they battled point-by-point early in the first set. The young Czech ladies managed to hold a two-point advantage at the second technical timeout until they gained momentum to build a bigger lead. Despite of the poor Czech service reception, the “Oranjes” could not find any appropriate solution to stop the Czech offense (25-20).
In the second set, the Dutch tried hard to change the story of the match. Although they started confidently (5-0), they could not capitalize on the nine errors on the Czech side. At 24-23, outside hitter Pavla Meidlova brought up set ball for the Czech Republic with a blistering winner from the left. Michaela Mlejnkova closed it out one rally later, hammering the Mikasa through the leaky Dutch block (25-23).
Even though the Netherlands had another big chance to modify the chronicle of the match in the third set (19-15), they eventually failed. Meidlova seized the second match ball to bounce the young Czechs in heaven at 25-22.
Czech Republic head coach Ondrej Marek: "I think that our girls weren't ready in the beginning but we improved during the match.”
Czech Republic captain Marie Kurkova: "No doubt, it was an important game and an important victory for us. We experienced some problems in the beginning of the sets but focused better in the important moments of the match."
The Netherlands head coach Matt van Wezel: "We couldn’t score in difficult situations today while their leaders Meidlova and Mlejnkova could. The teams in our pool are quite equal and if we play at our level we can compete against all of them."
The Netherlands captain Britt Bongaerts: "I'm disappointed about the final result. The Czechs served very well today. The most important difference between the two teams was the Czech coolness in the decisive moments of the match.”

Greece v Estonia 3:0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-18)

Greece had to fight hard to overcome host Estonia in straight sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-18) on day 3 of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women at A. Le Coq Sports Hall in Tartu on Monday. Greece improved to 2-1 while the hosts dropped to 0-3. Anthi Vasilantonaki scored 19 points for Greece while teammate Alexandra Psoma had 11. For Estonia, Laura Parts and Kristiine Miilen top-scored with ten points each. Greece had six blocking points – including three by Vasilantonaki – while the Estonians had one more, seven. Greece had the edge in service points, ten to six.
As in their two previous matches, the young Estonians started self-confidently, showing no fear of their opponents from Greece. The hosts quickly gained the upper hand with solid passing and remarkable blocking. Nevertheless, a 14-7 lead was not good enough to pull through. Greek setter Chara Papadopoulou served 9 times in a row to turn the tables at the second technical timeout (16-14). Estonia did not quit but could not close the gap until 25-23 for Greece. Greece’s middle blocker Anna Kalantatze eventually hammered the Mikasa down to make it 1:0 for the favorites.
Estonia did their best to bounce back but their poor service reception (15%) did not help them much in the second set. Greece, at that moment with stronger serves and more poise, swiftly rallied to an undisputed 25-18 set win.
Although Estonia fought bravely in the third set, they could not stop the commanding Greeks from cruising to their second win at the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women. Vasilantonaki closed it out at 25-18 with an inspiring block winner on the right side.
Greece head coach Konstantinos Papadopoulos: "It was important to begin the tournament with two victories out of three matches. We haven't actually any specific goals here but our future is in our own hands, we just have to play two more good matches."
Greece captain Anthi Vasilantonaki: "We have two very difficult matches ahead so it's too early to celebrate. We need two other strong games to reach the final eight.”
Estonia head coach Peeter Vahtra: "I'm still proud of my girls as they were fighting until the end. But I have to admit that our opponents display a higher level in overall play and they are more experienced in that kind of situations."
Estonia setter Kertu Laak: "In the beginning of the match, we started well but quickly lost our focus. I had not many chances to use my middle blockers. However, that wasn't the main reason for the defeat. Our biggest problem was killing high balls."

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: Bulgaria’s Gergana Dimitrova (No. 1) helped her team with 14 points but could not stop the remarkable Serbian power.