Coslada, Spain, May 25, 2014. Slovenia secured the second position in Pool C provisional standings after beating Montenegro by 3:0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-21) in its last match of the first tournament in Coslada from the second round of qualifications for the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Women. The Czech Republic confirmed its dominance in the pool by beating host Spain by 3:0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-19) to stay atop the standings before the second tournament at home.
Montenegro vs. Slovenia 0:3 (13-25, 23-25, 21-25)
The Slovenian squad presented efficacy throughout the match and completed an all-around performance to impose its experience in a clash between two teams that have shown inspiration during this weekend. The attacks by Ziva Recek and Monika Potokar and the excellence from the serving line paved the way to victory for a Slovenian group that used its greater offensive resources to bring under a Montenegrin line-up that never stopped trying. The team trained by Vladimir Milacic, after its two praiseworthy performances in the previous days of competition, aimed for the second place of the pool and tried to maintain its poise in the match through the sparks of brilliance produced by captain Tatjana Bokan, but Slovenia managed to counteract the spikes by the Montenegrin leader with a combined effort and through an intense blocking system. The 13 points of blocking and the efficiency from Potokar helped Slovenia to close the match in three sets, thus providing them the second place in the pool.
Ziva Recek with 12 points for Slovenia topped the scorers’ chart of the match followed by teammates Monika Potokar and Sara Hutinski and Montenegro’s Tatjana Bokan with 11 points each.
Marina Cvetanovic, captain of Slovenia: “We are very happy for this victory. I think that our playing has started to grow from game to game so that is very good for us. We put a lot of pressure on Montenegro in the first set, so I think that this was a breaking point for them. Our percentage of options to qualify has grown, so maybe we can make something happen next week.”
Vladimir Milacic, head coach of Montenegro: “Slovenia played a good match, congratulations to them! This was our worst match in the last two months. We were not ourselves.”
Czech Republic vs. Spain 3:0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-19)
The young and inexperienced local squad could not cope with the powerful performance from the other side of the net and closed the tournament on home ground with a winless streak. The spikes by Aneta Havlickova and Helena Halvelkova proved too strong for the Spaniards and contributed to the breaking of each set by the Czechs right after the first technical time-out. The Spanish fans filled the stands once again and provided continuous support for the home squad in a relentless show of encouragement that nourished local illusions of victory. However, and despite the efforts from the host team, the Czechs demonstrated their condition of one of the teams on the continent in top form by clinching a convincing triumph in three sets. The final 3:0 places the Czech Republic in first position of the pool and in a perfect condition to opt for the qualification on home ground in tournament 2 to be played next weekend in the Czech city of Plzen.
Aneta Havlickova was the top scorer of the match with 17 points for the winning team. Helena Havelkova added 11. Spain’s most prolific player in this game, Helia Gonzalez, finished with 10 points.
Helia Gonzalez, captain of Spain: “We cannot give up. This is a team that has to fight every single match and we proved today that when we fight, we have options. That is our true character. Next week we will try to do our best in the Czech Republic and we will try to go for every match.”
Carlo Parisi, head coach of the Czech Republic: “It was an important match, the result likewise, but we need to improve some aspects of our game. There is work to do in our search of a solid mechanism of play, as well as in our mental aspects in order to keep on growing. Our goal is to earn the qualification next week and the situation seems favorable for us, since we play at home, so we need to be focused on taking advantage of this opportunity.”
Click here for more details on the 2nd Round of qualifications, including match statistics and photos.