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Saturday’s semifinals:

16:30 Serbia v Turkey
19:00 Slovenia v Greece

Classification matches 5-8:

11:30 The Czech Republic v Belgium
14:00 Bulgaria v Russia

Slovenia didn’t leave anything to chance in their last pool game against Italy and secured a solid 3:0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-22) victory. Best scorer of the match was Slovenia’s Nika Markovic with 20 points. Paola Egonu scored 13 times for Italy. Slovenia had the edge in blocking (7-5) and serving (8-4) and committed less errors than their opponents (14-21).
The set-up for the game was clear: Slovenia needed only one point in order to secure their spot in the semifinals. The two teams proceeded point by point in the first set until 4-4, when Slovenia’s Anita Sobocan came to serve. Her two aces and Slovenia’s powerful blocks and attacks gave her side an 8-4 lead at the first technical timeout. Slovenia suffered a minor injury when middle-blocker Ela Pintar got a hard spike straight in her face at 10-6, but the young lady returned to the pitch before the second technical timeout (16-10). Nika Markovic closed it out for Slovenia at 25-16 with good serving.
In the second set Italy fought back bravely battling their way back form 0-3, 8-12 and 15-19 and challenged their contenders seriously for the set win. Nevertheless, Slovenia proved to be much more consistent. The Slovenians ended it 25-22 in their favor.
The third set was almost a walk in the park for the fresh semifinalists. Slovenia snatched a fast 12-4 lead and the game was practically over. Slovenia showed a little excitement in the end needing five match balls and eventually pulled through at 25-22. For Italy it was the end of the tournament.
Slovenia head coach Joze Casar: “Incredible! Small Slovenia beats huge Italy in volleyball. I can’t believe it! We won the group with only one defeat. We had one bad day and four unbelievable days. My girls are writing history for Slovenia. Now we have one day off to rest and then adjust to the new arena in Tartu. We are not done yet.”
Italy head coach Davide Mazzanti: “I have no words for this game and tournament. We didn’t play our volleyball. I am very disappointed.”

Turkey v Russia 3:2 (25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 13-25, 15-12)

Fans from all over Europe had to wait for the fifth set in the epic thriller between Turkey and Russia to know which team would grab the last semifinal ticket at 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women. Titleholder Turkey kept calm in the deciding set and eventually boasted to a hard-earned 3:2 victory (25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 13-25, 15-12). Best scorer of the match was Pelin Aroguz from Turkey who scored 22 times for her side while Angelina Sperskaite and Anastasia Barchuk contributed 15 kills each for Russia. There was not much to separate the two teams: Russia won the block duel 13-11 while Turkey proved slightly better from the service line (9-8).
At first Russia took control with their efficient and versatile attack. The Russians showed great defense work as well to gain momentum at the second technical timeout (16-10). The Eastern Europeans were still in front at 23-18 but could not stop Turkey’s top scorer Pelin Aroguz from turning the tables in the decisive moment of the opening set. Turkey made three winning blocks, two aces and broke Russia’s reception pretty systematically at that important moment of the match to take a hard-earned 1-0 set lead at 25-23.
The second frame was all about attacking. Both teams had short point streaks in the early stage of the set, but from 6-6 to Russia’s lead at 14-13 both teams ended the rallies with irresistible spikes. The tall Russians – now – kept cool until the end of the second set (25-21).
If there was anyone in the audience who loved to watch long rallies, then the third set was something special for them. Both teams performed extremely well in defence with the Mikasa rarely founding its way to the ground. The score was even until the second technical timeout before Turkey opened a six-point gap until 21-15 with blocks, digs and reliable attacking. This was something that Russia couldn’t match and Turkey took the set 25-20.
A quite opposite story happened in the fourth set. What could have been the final set for Turkey proved to be a blocking show for the Russians. They entirely controlled the airspace above the net and gave Turkey not the ghost of a chance to rush to a 3:1 win (25-13).
However, the Russians could not stretch the momentum into the fifth and deciding set. Turkey took an early 3-0 lead what turned out to be the key moment of the match. Although Russia’s captain Angelina Sperskaite brought her team back to 12-13 with an ace, Turkey never looked back until 15-12.
Turkey head coach Mustafa Suphi Doganci: “Today’s match felt like a European championship semifinal or final. It was a tough game. We prepared very well. I’m happy for the win but would like to congratulate the Russian team as well. They played a very strong game today.”
Russia head coach Petr Kobrin: “This was a very difficult game for us. We knew Turkey was a good team as we played a friendly match against them in April. They have good spikers. We tried to win, but we couldn’t. We had our chances, but we missed them at the end.”

Finland v Belgium 1:3 (25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 12-25)

Belgium finished the Preliminary Round of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women with their third win in Pool II, beating the hosts from Finland thanks to an improved performance after the second set 3:1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-12). Finland missed the chance for their first victory at the end of the second period where the young Finns could not pull through after a comfortable 16-10 lead. Best scorer of the match was Belgium's Sarah Cools with 20 points including 4 block winners while Ronja Heikkiniemi contributed 15 points for Finland.
Belgium controlled the beginning of the first set but Finland quickly started to fight and soon the set was tied at 19-19. Finland played brilliantly at that time of the match and never looked back until the final 25-21. It was the second set win for the hosts at the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women.
Finland kept momentum in the beginning of the second set, opening the gap to six points at the second technical timeout. The young Belgians, who still needed a set win to finish fourth in Pool II and continue their adventures in Tartu, bounced back strongly and levelled the score at 19-19. Middle blocker Sarah Cools was the main Belgian force at that decisive moment of the match, scoring eight points for Belgium in the second frame and leading her teammates to a hard-earned 25-23 set win.
Belgium kept the upper hand in the beginning of the third set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. Finland fought back to 7-7 and 10-10 but could not prevent their opponents from cruising to 25-18 and a 2:1 set lead.
Belgium never looked back in the fourth and last set, flying to an undisputed 25-12 and 3:1 match victory.
Belgium head coach Julien Van de Vyver: “In the first set we played a little bit too nervously. Finland played very well in the first and second set, then we started to develop our game. I am happy we'll move to Tartu, it was our goal.”
Finland head coach Aapo Rantanen: “We fought impressively during two sets, won the first and we were near to win the second set too. Our reception was not good enough to pull through.”

The Preliminary Phase of the 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women was 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: Slovenian setter Eva Mori and her teammates write history for Slovenia, booking a huge win over powerhouse Italy and make it to the semifinals.