31/05/2015 20:07
Second party for Slovenia as men also make EuroVolley finals
2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men
%20attacking-01.jpg)
Matosinhos, Portugal, May 31, 2015. Slovenia’s men emulated their countrywomen – who had achieved a historic feat on Friday – and they also made the Final Round of this year’s CEV Volleyball European Championship after claiming two sets in their return matchup with Portugal on Sunday. Last week Slovenia had cruised to a 3:0 home win in Maribor and therefore they needed ‘only’ two more sets to seal their ticket to Bulgaria and Italy. They did so even though they had to fight hard for four sets before Portugal claimed a tie-break that was no longer going to have an impact on the qualification for the EuroVolley (20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12). The next stop for Slovenia will be in Varna where the players around Volleyball legend Andrea Giani will play 2014 world champions Poland, the ‘Red Dragons’ of Belgium and Belarus. Slovenia’s star Mitja Gasparini was once again the ‘man of the match’ recording 26 points, including eight aces.
The first set already set the tone for the close match that would have followed with Portugal and Slovenia performing well at the net but also making a flurry of mistakes from the service line. Slovenia got to the front at the first technical time-out (8:7) on a second touch spike by their setter Dejan Vincic. Mitja Gasparini was time and again the most prolific player of his side and he moved the score from 13 all to 16:13 with his aces. He continued to spike hard and the score went to 20:16 for Slovenia; Portugal soon trailed 18:24 and even though the hosts attempted a late comeback, Slovenia finished the first set at 25-20.
Slovenia was off to a good start also in the second set but two consecutive points by Hugo Gaspar helped Portugal claim the lead. Portugal’s good moment continued whilst Slovenia started making errors, and this way the hosts could ‘rest’ on a two-point lead at the second technical time-out. Slovenia’s coach Andrea Giani asked a time-out following another two points for Portugal scored by Joao Jose and Alex Ferreira; still the Italian Volleyball legend could not get his players back on track as Portugal’s middle blocker Fabricio Silva sealed the final 25-22 for the home side to restore the balance in the match.
Alex Ferreira turned into Slovenia’s nightmare in the third set as he served strong and provided the Slovenian receivers with a hard time. On his serving turn Portugal moved the score from 2 all to 7:2 and another two points by Gaspar widened the lead for the home side. Slovenia tried to cut their deficit and did so (11:7) with two blocks by Alen Pajenk and an ace by Gasparini. However, Ferreira continued to ‘bomb’ the Slovenian defence and Portugal made it 16:12 at the second technical time-out. An ace by Gaspar contributed as many as nine set balls for the home side but Slovenia stormed back with Gasparini standing behind the service line, before Portugal netted their next opportunity and finished the set at 25-19.
The duel between Gaspar and Gasparini continued also in the fourth set. The Slovenian ace continued to score with impressive consistency and Klemen Cebulj called for the second mandatory stop with Slovenia leading by two points. After the break, the visitors widened their lead (20:15) but Portugal – supported by the crowd – stormed back and closed their deficit down to one point at 20:21. Still Slovenia kept their nerves under control and eventually closed the set at 25-23 this way securing also their ticket to the Final Round of the European Championship.
The tie-break that followed was meaningless and Portugal brought it to an end at 15-12 on a block by André Lopes. Mitja Gasparini won his ‘personal duel’ with Hugo Gaspar recording 26 points – including eight aces – whilst the Portuguese star finished the match on 19.
Portugal’s coach Hugo Silva said: “The story repeated itself. We were almost, almost there but we can’t leave it all for the last moments since we jeopardise the chances to reach our goals. I think that we dignified the Portuguese Volleyball family with this performance, but it wasn’t enough because Slovenia was colder and more experienced in the decisive moments. They won mainly because of some outstanding players they have on their roster.”
Team captain Joao Jose added: “Disappointment is a strong word, because the team has to be congratulated for all the work that they’ve done. Today we gave our all to qualify, we played well and stuck to what we had planned, but we ended up by being penalised by the score (0-3) that we had brought from the first match in Slovenia.”
Slovenia’s mentor Andrea Giani said: “I am happy, obviously. My biggest fear was that we weren’t able to play as a team and would play individually but the collective prevailed after the third set and that granted us a place in the European Championship Final Round.”
Slovenia’s star player Mitja Gasparini added: “We couldn’t be happier with our performance. It has been two extremely hard matches against Portugal. It was very complicated, mainly in the beginning of the fourth set, that was crucial for us, but we were able to focus and reached our main goal that was to make the Final Round of the European Championship this year.”
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
|