11/10/2015 22:53
Nerve-wracking drama ends in third straight win for Bulgaria’s Lions, Germany bounce back to claim ticket to playoff stage and play Red Dragons on Tuesday
2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men
Sofia, Bulgaria, October 11, 2015. Three days of great Volleyball actions reached their climax on Sunday night in Bulgaria’s capital city as the Lions were able to overcome a series of difficult moments to finish their campaign in Pool A with a perfect record of three wins in as many matches after a hard-fought tiebreaker with The Netherlands (29-27, 20-25, 28-26, 23-25, 17-15). Bulgaria move on straight to the quarterfinals of the 2015 men’s EuroVolley whilst the Oranjes settle for second place and on Tuesday will be playing Slovenia in the Playoffs. Earlier in the afternoon, Germany bounced back from their poor performance in the match up with The Netherlands and easily disposed of the Czech Republic in three straight sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-16) to open the programme of the last competition day in Pool A at Arena Armeec in Sofia. This result was everything Germany needed to finish third in the group and secure their spot in the playoff stage of the 2015 men’s EuroVolley where the Baku 2015 European Games gold medallists will be playing the Red Dragons of Belgium who earlier on Sunday afternoon beat Slovenia to claim second place in Pool C in Varna.
Czech Republic vs. Germany 0:3 (14-25, 14-25, 16-25)
At no point during the first set did the Czechs succeed in taking the lead. The German attacks dominated the scene and the one beautifully mastered by Christian Fromm with a pipe shot for 25-14 finished the set off. Zdenek Smejkal’s guys won the first and the third rallies in the second set, but from then on it was pretty much the same story. Germany took control with György Grozer on fire, contributing 10 points towards another 25-14, stamped with middle blocker Marcus Böhme’s hammer shot for the last point. The story continued along a straightforward line through the third set as well. The Czechs were no match to the German squad in this game and Vital Heynen’s players closed the deal at 25-16 and secured their spot in the next phase.
György Grozer’s 19 points put his name on top of the scorers’ chart of the match. Christian Fromm added 11 to Germany’s basket. Michal Finger was responsible for 10 of the Czech Republic’s points.
Vital Heynen, head coach of Germany: “This match was crucial for us and the result shows that we must have played an excellent game. I was criticised for my choice of players against The Netherlands yesterday, but people do not realise that it is hard to play on top level for three days in a row. It is not enough to be strong, but you need to be smart as well. It is important to play well at the end of the tournament, not so much at the beginning... It is always hard to play against my compatriots from Belgium. These are my friends on the other side and if we lose I hurt for my team, but if we win I hurt for my country.”
Denys Kaliberda, player of Germany: “We lost two games, but now we won and advanced to the next round. It was a very good match for us, almost without mistakes. We all played well. The Czech team was quite tired after their five-set match yesterday. Before we start thinking about who might be our quarterfinal opponent and whether or not Poland is stronger than Bulgaria, we have to think about Belgium and our next match on Tuesday.”
Zdenek Smejkal, head coach of the Czech Republic: “We were so tired, while the starting line-up of the German side did not play yesterday. They had a lot of time to recover. We knew that we were in a very tough group. The only match that we should have won was against The Netherlands. We played well against Bulgaria, but unfortunately that was not enough. This European Championship has shown us that we have a lot to learn, and we should be concentrated on that point in the name of our future.”
Adam Bartos, player of the Czech Republic: “We had a very difficult game against Bulgaria yesterday and today was a bad day for us against Germany. We were so tired – mentally and physically. Germany played very well, we played badly – that is the truth. Now we must go home. But it was a pleasure for me to play here in Bulgaria at this championship. I saw a great atmosphere at the venue - it was an incredible moment in my career. I can only say: thank you, Bulgaria, thank you, all, for this tournament, because everything was perfect.”
The Netherlands vs. Bulgaria 2:3 (27-29, 25-20, 26-28, 25-23, 15-17)
Once again, Arena Armeec was completely packed for the game of the home team. The incredible ambiance prompted both sides to show some top-level Volleyball during the first part. This produced an extremely tight set, in which the gap seldom exceeded one point and always in favour of the Dutch, except for the very end, which came well into the overtime with an ace by Nikolay Penchev for the final 29-27 Bulgaria’s way.
A very interesting situation occurred at 16:13 to Bulgaria in the second set. The home side’s acting libero Teodor Salparov sustained an injury and could not continue to play. Plamen Konstantinov had registered as a second libero Andrey Zhekov, who normally plays as a setter. According to the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules, Zhekov had to be declared unable to play as well in order to allow for re-designating true defence specialist Vladislav Ivanov as a new libero. Gido Vermeulen’s team took advantage of this confusing situation and quickly flipped the lead with Kay van Dijk on fire (11 points in this set) to win by 25-20.
The Netherlands broke away early in the third set. Having stepped up their blocking efforts, the Dutch were well on their way to taking the lead in the match as they managed a comfortable 22:18 advantage. Not quite so, since with Penchev behind the serving line and substitute playmaker Lubomir Agontsev setting some excellent balls for the Bulgarian attackers, the home team scored five consecutive points to prompt a dramatic ending. Still, The Netherlands was the team that had the first set point, but failed to convert it. The Lions also missed out on a couple of opportunities to close the set before an ace by Miroslav Gradinarov put an end to the drama at 28-26 Bulgaria’s way.
The fourth set was also very tight. The Dutch managed to maintain a small lead through the most part of the set. Although Bulgaria caught up on several occasions, they never managed to step ahead in the score. The Netherlands reached set point at 24:23 and Jeroen Rauwerdink put the ball on the floor for 25-23.
The relentless battle between these two extremely motivated sides continued throughout the fifth set as well. Bulgaria started well with a 3:1 lead, but the Oranjes caught up immediately. The next time the gap was as wide as two points was when the set finished. Niels Klapwijk’s superb spiking effort in this set was cancelled by the three aces the Lions managed to score. The set was once again decided in overtime when the home heroes triumphed on their third match point with a 17-15 win.
Vladimir Nikolov and Kay van Dijk contributed to this spectacle 27 and
26 points, respectively to top the scorers’ chart of the match.
Plamen Konstantinov, head coach of Bulgaria: “It was a tough match, because both teams wanted to win in order to have an extra day of rest. We needed it more, because of the many injury issues we are having. Now these two days off that we have may prove decisive. The audience was fantastic. Without our fans it would have been difficult to pick ourselves up and come back. Our team spirit triumphed. Unlike yesterday’s match deliberately lost by Germany, our game with The Netherlands was great for the spectators, a true promotion of our sport.”
Teodor Salparov, libero of Bulgaria: “I felt a sharp string pull during the second set. I hope that it will turn out to be just a strain, but we will see tomorrow. Miroslav Gradinarov and Vladislav Ivanov came pretty well into the game. Congratulations to them and to everyone from our team. We deserved to win after the hard, hard work before the championship. It was too hard for me after the injury – to stay outside and watch how the opponents were taking control. But at the end we were the winners and this will help us for the quarterfinals. Big thanks to our fantastic fans!”
Gido Vermeulen, head coach of The Netherlands: “It was a big fight, a fight between good players. I am very disappointed. I think that we were the better team today. There was a strange thing in the second set, but the players on the court played a fair game, they supported each other. They enjoyed playing this game. At the end the fifth set was a gamble. And the audience helped the Bulgarians win. We want to win the game against Slovenia, but we need to recover first.”
Kay van Dijk, player of The Netherlands: “First of all, I want to say that it was a pleasure to play in this atmosphere, in front of the thousands of people. And second, I am really upset, because we lost. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but to lose by 15-17 in the fifth set is really disappointing. This evening was very bad for us, but we are still in the tournament. Now we need to focus on the game against Slovenia. We need to recover as fast as possible and I hope we win and go in the quarterfinals.”
For more information on the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Men visit eurovolley2015.net or click here. In social media, please use the competition’s official hashtag #EuroVolleyM.
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