Antwerp, Belgium, October 1, 2015. The quest for glory in the 2015 CEV DELA Volleyball European Championship – Women reached its highlight on Thursday as the teams still in the competition fought to clinch one of the four spots in the semifinals. The dream of co-hosts Belgium came to an end as Serbia shattered the hopes of the Yellow Tigers with a 3:1 (19-25, 29-27, 25-11, 25-18) victory in Antwerp. In the first clash of the day, Turkey stated their condition of tournament favourites after booking the ticket to the Final Four following a sensational five-setter Volleyball showdown against an inspired German side (25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-12).
Turkey vs Germany 3:2 (25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-12)
The first quarterfinal clash in Antwerpen was a real thriller of the highest level. Turkey managed to edge Germany in a five-setter showdown of top Volleyball thus qualifying to the semifinals where the Baku 2015 European Games champions will meet the winner of the encounter between The Netherlands and Poland.
Turkish team captain Gözde Kirdar helped her squad to take the lead in the first set after moving the score from 7:6 to 11:6. Germany could not close the gap, even though Kathleen Weiss made her best to bring excitement to the game with her serves (18:16). Nonetheless, Turkey maintained their efficiency and closed the period 25-20.
The strength of the Turkish team forced Germany to trail behind from the onset of the second period (5:2). However, at 9:10 the German side was able to shake off the rivals’ dominance to present a greater opposition due to problems in Turkish reception and defence. The Germans took profit of this situation and at 10:14 the Turkish coach Ferhat Akbas used his second time-out, but the set continued the same way. The Turkish ladies kept fighting, but could not close the gap and eventually lost the set 21-25.
In the continuation Gözde Kirdar produce the first gap in the scoreboard – at 8:5 and finally 14:9. Germany recovered through Mareen Apitz’s serves and several Turkish errors, thus acquiring the edge to turn the tables of the set in their favour. Germany had six set points of margin and finally the Turkish team helped them with a serve in the net (20-25).
Turkey seemed startled by this demonstration and tried to improve their performance, thus acquiring a lead in the fourth period despite the German still showing their efficiency. The Turkish side completed the impressive comeback as they called for the tie-break with a powerful spike (25-23).
Again a complete thriller took over the Lotto Arena sports hall as the tie persisted in the fifth set (7:7). Some reception problems on the German side, a serve by Gözde Yilmaz, an attack by Neriman Ozsoy and a tip-in by Naz Aydemir Akyol is all that Turkey needed to earn the ticket to the semi-finals. The 2015 European Games champions will clash against The Netherlands or Poland to be in the final.
“I’m very happy with our qualification for the Final Four in Rotterdam. Even if we won all our pool games without losing a set we were well aware that every team in this stage is difficult to beat. And since we didn’t play at our best, we had a lot of troubles to beat Germany. Luckily I could count on all my substitutes, such as Gözde Yilmaz, who scored two very important winning serves at the end of the tie break,” commented the coach of Turkey Ferhat Akbas.
“This was a very tough game, mentally as well as physically. But finally, we survived. At 8:3 in the second set, we suddenly lost control because Germany started serving extremely well. They broke our rhythm and our mentality for a while, especially when they also turned around the third set. Now we’re only two wins away from the title, and very close to a medal,” declared Turkish middle blocker Eda Erdem Dündar.
“I’m disappointed about the result, of course. But I can’t blame my team; the ladies played very well today against such a strong opponent. It’s a bit frustrating that we lost all our important games in five sets: 2:3 against Poland in the quarterfinals of the Baku 2015 European Games, 2:3 in Stuttgart against Turkey in the FIVB World Grand Prix and one more 2:3 today. But this proves that our young team is closing in on the European top teams,” stated the coach of Germany Luciano Pedullà.
“This loss is so disappointing! Turkey was the team to beat, but we fully believed in our own chances. That’s how we created a giant opportunity to beat them when going up 2 sets to 1. Unfortunately, we didn’t succeed in finishing this job. After the silver medal in 2013, this is of course a disappointing result. We all wanted to go to Rotterdam, but we have to go home instead,” said German player Mareen Apitz.
Serbia vs Belgium 3:1 (19-25, 29-27, 25-11, 25-18)
With a hard fought 3:1 victory against Belgium, Serbia conquered a spot in the semifinals of the 2015 CEV DELA Volleyball European Championship - Women. The Balkan team narrowly escaped a two set deficit, before it turned its domination into a triumph. In a rerun of the clash two years ago in the 2013 EuroVolley, Serbia will meet Russia in the semifinals of the European highlight of the year.
The Yellow Tigers presented a strong opposition to the only European team already qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. With a series of strong serves Charlotte Leys and Freya Aelbrecht set the Lotto Arena in Antwerp full with 5,000 spectators on fire for a quick 9:5 lead. Laura Heyrman added two mighty kill blocks against the highly rated spikers Tijana Boskovic and Jelena Nikolic for 14:8. Meanwhile, Valerie Courtois dug away numerous spiking efforts, offering setter Frauke Dirickx new break point opportunities. With 20:12 in the scoreboard, Freya Aelbrecht nailed an amazing 25.19 for the home side.
Jovana Stevanovic exploited her abilities to turn the tides at the start of the second set (6:1). But again, Charlotte Leys crushed the visiting reception with extremely difficult serves to get Belgium in front at 7:6. Finally Milena Rasic managed to organise her blocks, and with an extra ace by Tijana Malesevic, the Balkan ladies converted their skills into another five point bonus, going up 17:12. The home side did not surrender, with Freya Aelbrecht succesfully blocking and levelling the score at 20:20. In a high class nerve wrecking finish, the locals saved four set points before giving in on Jelena Nikolic’s line spike 29-27.
The same Serbian offensive star converted her winning mood into a couple of effective attacks for an 8:3 advantage at the first technical time-out of the third set. Captain Maja Ognjenovic cleverly dismantled the local blocks by producing a surprising setting work. The squad mentored by Zoran Terzic felt comfortable in the lead and stunned the 5,000 Belgian fans with a run from 14:8 to a compelling 25-11.
Another turnaround marked the start of the fourth set. Captain Charlotte Leys and her teammates regrouped for an early 6:1 and 10:4 lead. Middle blockers Milena Rasic and Jovana Stevanovic immediately wiped out this bonus, and while Maja Ognjenovic regained the control, Brankica Mihajlovic powered her team in command again at 16:13. The Yellow Tigers finished roaring, as Serbia closed the set 25-18 and will now sail from one port to another, from Antwerp to Rotterdam, where it will meet Russia in the semifinals.
“My players learned a lesson, because we narrowly escaped a two set deficit. Yet, I think we would have turned around such a situation. I was just waiting for my team to start playing at its normal level. Belgium only scored six points in attack at 23%. Yet they won the set easily, because we made so many errors,” commented the coach of Serbia Zoran Terzic.
“Actually we expected a tough game, because we know that Belgium is a team of fighters. In the first set our nerves took the upper hand, but we fought back, so we can call this a mental victory. At the end of set two, we had a little luck, when one ball changed the whole match. Now, we have to face Russia again: we beat them at the World Cup in Japan, so we can be confident,” declared Serbian player Jelena Nikolic.
“I can’t blame my players at all, since they gave a good response to a team that recently qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in a convincing way. Before this tournament I set my goals on a 6th place, so I’m happy we achieved this goal. Yet, there’s a little disappointment, since a fifth place would have given us direct qualification to the 2017 edition of the European Championship,” said the coach of Belgium Gert Vande Broek.
“What a pity it is that we couldn’t grab the second set. Serbia is stronger than us, but they started extremely nervous. If we had won this second set, they may have started panicking. Overall I’m happy that we could show our fantastic home crowd a couple of spectacular games,” stated Belgian captain Frauke Dirickx.
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