Sakarya, Turkey, April 8, 2015. The hosts of Turkey are the first team from Pool II to book the ticket for the semis of the 2015 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship - Men which will be held on Saturday in Sakarya after recording another crushing victory against the Czech Republic, while Germany and Bulgaria are going to fight for the last semifinal spot on Thursday. As for Romania, after a fourth consecutive loss, the rookies of the tournament have to accept that regardless of the result from their next match with the Czech Republic, they will have to leave the competition once the pool phase comes to an end.
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Czech Republic vs. Bulgaria 0:3 (23-25, 21-25, 22-25)
It was Bulgaria who started great into the first game of the day. With some good defence at the net, they had a quick 8-2 lead at the first technical timeout but the Czech Republic fought back with Matej Smidl’s spikes to lead 11-10. At that point Bulgaria captain Radoslav Parapunov’s serves caused problems to their opponent’s reception and the Bulgarian team took a 4-0 run. The finish was really close and in the end it was Bulgaria who performed better to win the set 25-23 despite Smidl’s 9 points. The second set started well balanced and the Czech Republic reached the first technical timeout leading by 8-7. In the middle of the set, both teams scored 3 consecutive points one by one (13-10, 13-13, 16-13, 16-16) with Bulgaria leading and the Czech team chasing. Finally, Plamen Shekerdzhiev took a step forward and Bulgaria won the set 25-21.
The Czech Republic started better into the third set and took the lead at first technical timeout (8-6) but Bulgaria levelled the game at 9-all. Stefan Ivanov joined Parapunov and Shekerdzhiev on the attack with five points and Bulgaria gained a three-point advantage at the second technical timeout. When the game resumed, the Czech Republic could not stay competitive and Bulgaria won the set 25-22. Radoslav Parapunov scored 15 points for the winning team while Donovan Dzavoronok scored 18 for the Czech Republic in their losing effort.
Dragan Ivanov, coach of Bulgaria: “I want to congratulate my players for the excellent victory. This win is very important for us. And I am sure that we can play better. We have to continue to play like this. Tomorrow we have to win against Spain if we want to reach the semis.”
Radoslav Parapunov, captain of Bulgaria: “We did what our coach told us before the game. This is the reason that we won today. We played with heart. If we do not play with heart, we cannot win against Czech Republic which is a very strong team. We were well prepared for their attackers. Tomorrow we have to go for another victory. We want to reach the semis.”
Jiri Zach, coach of Czech Republic: “Today we served bad and I am disappointed with our block. We did not play our normal game. We have to be better tomorrow.”
Spain vs. Turkey 0:3 (21-25, 21-25, 17-25)
The game started well balanced but Spain was not able to stop Abdullah Çam’s spikes and Turkey got an 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout. After the break, Turkey gained a three point-advantage with captain Muzaffer Yönet’s serves (13-10) and went up by 16-14 at the second technical timeout. After 20-16, Turkey didn’t lose control over the game and won the set 25-21. Abdullah Cam, Muzaffer Yönet and Adis Lagumdzija all scored 4 points each for the hosting team.
Turkey started the second set with a 3-0 run and kept this advantage at the first technical timeout (8-5). Turkey stopped Spain at the net with some mighty blocks and reached the second technical timeout at 16-11. Spain, whose reception collapsed in the second set with a success rate standing at only 13%, could not stop Turkey’s outside spikers and the home guys won the set 25-21. The hosts made a great start into the third set and took an early lead at 5-1. The home heroes showed their defensive skills as a team and led at both technical timeouts (8-3, 16-7). In the end Spain could not find a way to stop Turkey’s attackers and the home side won the set 25-17 and the match by 3:0. Burak Çevik was the best scorer with 17 points for Turkey while Fabian Giraco recorded 15 for Spain.
Salih Erdoğan Tavacı, coach of Turkey: “We knew the importance of this game. We set the pace from start to end especially in the third set. And we qualified to the semis. We want to win against Germany to finish as the pool leader tomorrow. We will use the day-off wisely. Congratulations to all my players.”
Muzaffer Yönet, captain of Turkey: “It was a good game. Before the start, we knew that we could qualify for the semis with a win. Our aim is to finish on top in our pool. Congratulations to all my teammates. We are having a great tournament.”
Benjamin Vicedo, coach of Spain: “I am happy with the way we played in the first two sets but not in the third. We did not play at the best of our abilities there.”
Sergi Rene Giralt, captain of Spain: “We did not play so bad but in the deciding moments of the match Turkey played better than us. It was very difficult to pass through their block. They played really well.”
Germany vs. Romania 3:0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-20)
Romania took the initiative with Rares Ionut Balean’s points at the beginning and reached the first technical timeout leading by 8-5. But Germany woke up when the game resumed and took the lead at 9-8 with a 4-0 run. Setter Stefan Thiel used all of his options in attack and Germany did not lose their leadership till the end of the set. The German team had a comfortable lead at 19-15 and won the set 25-21. Corbin Balster was the man of the set for Germany with 8 points. The game went down in a clearer way in the second set. Germany took the lead right from the beginning and won the set at 25-18. The Germans made a good start into the third set as well and went up to 3:0 with some good block actions and fast attacks. But Romania answered quickly and drew level with three consecutive points, too (3-3). German setter Stefan Thiel tried to set in for his middle blocker Tobias Krick with fast balls to surprise the opponent’s block, while Romania set the pace with captain Robert Aciobanitei. It was a tight game the spectators saw in the following time until the German team took on a four point advantage at 22-18. The decision was made at this point, Germany scored the last points and closed it at 25-20 to gain their third consecutive win at #EuroVolleyU19M.
Matus Kalny, coach of Germany: “We played very good and controlled the game in the first two sets but we lost our concentration in the last one. Finally I am satisfied with the way my players performed and that they defended the lead till the end.”
Stefan Thiel, captain of Germany: “We knew everything about them and played really good. I expected a stronger game from Romania. We have to increase our performance for the game against Turkey. Our goal is to make the World Championship.”
Razvan Parpala, coach of Romania: “Germany played better than us. We had some good moments but could not use our chances. We fought but the game was not so good.”
Robert Adrian Aciobanitei, captain of Romania: “This is not our level. We have to practice more to improve our performances. We tried to find some solutions but it did not work.”
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