Halmstad, Sweden, May 11, 2014. Sweden finished unbeaten atop the final standings in Pool 1 of the first qualification for the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Women. The home team achieved its third consecutive 3-point victory defeating Norway by 3:1 (25-22, 25-10, 21-25, 30-28) to move on to the next round’s Pool E where it will measure up to the national selections of Hungary, Israel and France. The other second round participant emerging from Halmstad was the team of Latvia, which shut out Georgia by 3:0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18) to claim the runner-up position. From Sweden, the Latvians will have to travel to Switzerland, where they will join Poland, Ukraine and the home team for the first round-robin tournament in Pool B, starting on May 16.
Sweden vs. Norway 3:1 (25-22, 25-10, 21-25, 30-28)
The match between neighboring Sweden and Norway turned out to be a thriller. The Norwegian team showed great resistance and did not make it easy for the Swedes. After 6 match points for the home heroines, they were finally able to claim the victory.
Hanne Haugen Aas from Norway tallied 21 points to top the scorers’ chart of this match. Rebecka Lazic was Sweden’s most prolific player with 19 points.
Tina Celinder-Nygren, head coach of Sweden: “It has been an interesting week and the team has grown every day. We have had a breakthrough with young Isabelle Haak and many of the other players have developed as well. We are looking forward to the training period we have in front of us.”
Alexandra Lazic, player of Sweden: “We started off weak in both Friday's and yesterday's games, but we improved today. I am really happy with all the girls' achievements.”
Latvia vs. Georgia 3:0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18)
After dominating the first set, Latvia had a dip and was close to giving the second set away. Georgia had a good offensive and defensive game while the Latvian team struggled to keep its energy up. Despite this, Latvia was eventually able to win the set. The third set resembled the first one. Latvia was clearly the best team on the court and won the match easily.
Ance Auzina and Anete Brinke were responsible for 14 and 13 points, respectively, on Latvia’s tally. Ann Kalandadze was Georgia’s best scorer with 10 points.
Zane Malasevska, player of Latvia: “It was really fun to win because it was an important match. All the teams in our group were on the same level and we knew that Georgia could surprise us and that they had a chance as well. We played a good game and we did not lose hope. It will be tough to play two weeks in a row, but we will keep practicing and do our best.”
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