Plovdiv, Bulgaria. March 29, 2015. The upcoming stars of European Volleyball continued to make a stand in the second day of competition of the 2015 CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship – Women taking place in Bulgarian cities of Samokov and Plovdiv. In the matches held in the ancient city of Plovdiv, as local fans' hopes for the host team's victory vanished for the defeat against The Netherlands, the squads that emerged victorious after the first day searched for the confirmation of their authority in the pool.  

Czech Republic vs Turkey. 1:3 (25-16, 15-25, 22-25, 15-25)   

Czech Republic and Turkey, two of the teams that debuted hitting the ground in Plovdiv, faced one another in the opening match of the second day of competition in the primeval Bulgarian city. Both squads aimed for the first position of the pool, and showed their candidacy to lead the race towards the final matches in a disputed encounter. As Czech squad dominated the first period, through the spikes by Anna Sucha, Turkish players were able to react and eventually forced the equalizer in the second period. From that moment on, Mehmet Nur Bedestenloglu’s pupils took an impressive streak that paved the way to their victory in the match, by imposing a sensational blocking system (14 blocks in the game) and a forceful completion of points by Tutku Burcu Yüzgenç and Tuğba Senoglu. Czech team tried to revert the situation, but the efficiency from the serving line by Turkish upcoming stars (10 aces in the game) prevented the current Bronze medalists to go to another tie-breaker. 3:1 and Turkey takes the road to the head of the pool.

“After the first set we did not play well in reception and some of our key players did not do a good job. That’s the reason why we could not beat Turkey today”, expressed Ales Novak, head coach of Czech Republic. “We had a bad reception and we couldn’t do our best in attack; Also, we made big mistakes after the first set”, lamented the captain of Czech Republic, Tiziana Baumrukova. 

“The Czech team played very well in the first set and the first half of the third one, but we were able to turn the result with one very important double substitution”, analyzed Mehmet Bedestenloglu, head coach of Turkey, as Selmin Karahan, captain of Turkey added: “We came back after the first set, we improved our reception and defense, and it is good that we took a second consecutive victory, since it means that we are moving forward step by step”.

Bulgaria vs The Netherlands. 2:3 (23-25, 25-21, 27-25, 18-25, 12-15)

Local team of Bulgaria needed the victory in order to maintain its chances to qualify for second round and to bring satisfaction to the ebullient fans, after the disappointment of the debut on Saturday. However, on the other side of the net awaited a Dutch squad that was able to achieve its first triumph in the competition in a thrilling Volleyball show. The packed sports hall in Plovdiv tried to give wings to hosts in the onset of the match through the non-stop roar from the stands, but The Dutch team used its command in block to impose its control in the game, a situation which gave the visiting team the lead in the game. In the continuation, the support from the stands enabled the local squad to produce a sensational reaction. After closing the second set, Bulgaria maintained the level of performance and achieved a hard-fought partial triumph in a tremendously contested end of third period. Despite home team's attempts, The Netherlands had not said its last words yet. A surprisingly effective sequence of powerful serves helped Dutch girls to dominate the period, putting an equalizer that conducted the match towards the tie-break. In a disputed end of game, Dutch players kept their composure and produced less mistakes than their rivals, so to put the final 12-15, in a disappointing ending for local team but an inspiring victory for visiting squad.   

“I am very happy with the result and with the victory; it is good that we managed to catch up after the third set and in the tiebreak too. I am proud of my girls, because it was a hard match”, declared Saskia van Hintum, head coach of The Netherlands, while captain Charlotte Haar expressed her joy for the triumph: “We believed in us during the whole game; we knew that we could win. We have played very well in the fourth set and in the tiebreak, although Bulgaria led almost to the end!”, she commented

The disappointment for the result was present in Bulgarian players and staff, but all the members of the local delegation were “proud” for the performance of hosts girls, as Radoslav Bakardzhiev, head coach of Bulgaria pointed out: “We showed today that we could wake up after yesterday's loss. We played brilliantly at moments, especially at the beginning of the fourth set. We had the advantage in the tie-break, but we were unable to keep it to get the victory. I am proud of my players”. 

Yoanna Atanasova, captain of Bulgaria showed less restrain and declared: “It’s very difficult to speak after such a dramatic loss. We have fought to the end, and we had our chances, but did not give all we had in us”.

Current title holders Poland needed to overcome the setback suffered in the first day following the defeat in the tie-break against Turkey, while Belgium, after its sensational debut on Saturday, searched its opportunity to confirm its readiness to lead the pool in front of another of the favorites. Polish girls didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get to the bandwagon of pool leaders and piloted the match towards earning the first set. Belgium, showing an impressive level of collective efficiency, counteracted the physical power of its rivals through defensive efforts and the labor paid off when Fien Caellens’ pupils used the brilliant performance by Britt Herbots and Manon Stragier (25 and 20 points, respectively) to put back the tie in the scoreboard after the second set. Belgium girls were on a roll and got to turn the tables when they signed the 2:1 in an impressive demonstration of mistakes-free playing. Poland fought for the recovery, through closing the lines in blocking (13 blocks in the game) and the attacks lead by Aleksandra Rasinska (16 points), but Belgium continued maintaining its efficiency in order to close the match 3:1 and to reach the first position of the pool.     

“I think that in this match we gave a lot of ourselves. I see that our team is growing up with each passing game, and I do not think that we are favorites now after two consecutive wins, but we have to think about the match against Turkey. We have to play even better. I think from match to match, the energy will increase”, declared Fien Callens, head coach of Belgium, stating the enthusiasm that was a constant in her girls. “We’ve played very enthusiastically and as a team. We managed to get another victory in the tournament”, added captain Charlotte Coppin.