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Russia sailed to a hard-earned 3:1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-20) win over unbeaten Slovenia at Tampere’s Exhibition and Sports Centre on Monday afternoon. Top scorer of the Russian team was wing spiker Angelina Sperskaite with 17 points. Best Slovenian scorers were opposite Nika Markovic and wing spiker Lena Scuka with 16 kills each.
Slovenia jumped out to a six-point lead in the middle of the first set (18-12) before the young Russians fought back bravely to close the gap to one point at 23-24. However, it was not good enough as the Slovenians showed strong nerves in the decisive moment of the opening set. Setter Eva Mori led her team with brilliant sets to avoid a Russian comeback in the last possible moment.
It was a fierce battle between two strong blocking teams in the second and third set. Slovenia scored five block winners in set No. 2 before the Russian powerhouse responded with six kills in the third period. As Russia committed less mistakes in that period of the match, Russian head coach Petr Kobrin’s squad gradually managed to gain the upper hand (25-22, 25-23).
There was still not much to separate the two teams in the fourth set. Although Slovenia tried their best to bounce back, it was already too late. Russia kept calm, seizing their fourth match ball for a well-deserved 25-20 and 3:1 win.
Russia head coach Petr Kobrin: “Today we played like we had planned before the match. Slovenia is a very strong team. We won today as we showed remarkable team spirit.”
Slovenia head coach Joze Casar: “Russia played way better than yesterday. We could not put enough pressure on their passers and committed too many mistakes. In the third set we had the chance to change the course of the game but we missed it.”

Turkey v Belgium 3:1 (17-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-21)

Turkey rallied to defeat Belgium 3:1 (17-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-21) in their third preliminary round match in Tampere on Monday to book their second win at the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women. It was the first setback for the Belgians who lost control of the game after the first set.
Wing spiker Pelin Aroguz did a great job, scoring 20 points for Turkey. Belgium's Celine Van Gestel helped her side with 19 kills. Turkey had 10 winning blocks. Both teams served well with Belgium scoring 14 times from the service line and Turkey 8 times.
Belgium started the match very determined, serving and attacking imposingly. The young Belgians hit five aces to control the first set all the way (25-17).
As from the start of the second set, the Turks found their rhythm with good team spirit and a strong offense. Belgium did their best to resist but could not stop the powerful Turkish hitters (25-15).
The plot of the match did not change in the third set. The fans saw both teams fighting hard for the lead. However, as in the previous set, the Turks kept the upper hand in the decisive moment of the match. With four block winners, Turkey powered to a well-deserved 2:1 set lead (25-22).
Even though Belgium fought back bravely in the fourth set, the team of head coach Mustafa Suphi Doganci kept calm to transform an 11-16 leeway in a hard-earned 25-21 set and 3:1 match win.
Turkey head coach Mustafa Suphi Doganci: “In the first match of the tournament we were mentally not ready, but then we woke up and now everything looks good. To beat Belgium was an important step towards the final round. Still, everything is open in our pool.”
Belgium head coach Julien Van de Vyver: “So far, we have played versus three top teams. I am quite happy with our five points. We started well today but Turkey found a perfect strategy to bounce back.”

Finland v Italy 1:3 (17-25, 25-21, 18-25, 17-25)

Italy booked their first win at the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women by beating host Finland in four sets (25-17, 21-25, 25-18, 25-17). Finland won their first set at their home tournament. Anna Nicoletti was the best scorer of the Italian team with 20 points, including five service winners. 15 years old Ronja Heikkiniemi scored 16 points for Finland.
Italy got a good start into the match while Finland was not at their best in the beginning. The Italians quickly led 8-2 and kept the pace high for the whole set until 25-17.
Nevertheless, Finland bounced back strappingly in the second set. Aapo Rantanen’s ladies put a lot of pressure on the Italian passers. The Finns hit seven service winners in that phase of the game to gain the upper hand. As a consequence, Finland won their first set in the tournament, 25-21.
Italy regained momentum in the third set. The “Azzurrine” started to play more regularly while Finland lost their power from the previous set. Italy easily cruised to a 25-18 set win.
Even though Finland led 12-10 in the middle of the fourth set, they couldn’t cope with the strength and speed the young Italians displayed in the decisive moment of the match. Italy powered to a well-deserved 25-17 set and 3:1 match win.
Italy head coach Davide Mazzanti: “I am happy with our first victory, but not very amused with our level of play. To keep our hopes alive, we’ll need two powerful matches against Russia and Slovenia.”
Finland head coach Aapo Rantanen: “Italy played better today although we managed to win our first set in this competition. But overall they play on another level.”

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: Tough net duel between Russia's middle blocker Anastasia Barchuk (No. 12) and Slovenian setter Eva Mori. Russia eventually had the upper hand in the match.