Slovenia vs Serbia 1:3 (25-23, 18-25, 18-25, 20-25)

Serbia closed the preliminary pool round with a hard-fought triumph over Slovenia. The Serbian team, after certifying its qualification to the semifinals already on Wednesday encountered troubles to maintain its level of efficiency against an optimistic Slovenian squad that presented a remarkable level of performance. Actually, Oleg Gorbachov’s girls surprised the pool leaders with a staggering start of the match. Through the spikes by Pia Blazic and the pressure from the serving line, Slovenia startled its rivals in the first set and gained the lead in the match. The Serbian girls were forced to recover and Jovo Cakovic’s disciples got back to the level demonstrated in the previous days by imposing their power at blocking. The changes in the Serbian line up also contributed to the pool leaders’ reaction and Serbia took control of the following sets, tearing up the wishes of victory of the Slovenian team. Serbia completes its winning streak in the pool and remains unbeaten ahead of the semifinals.



“This was our last match in the competition. We tried to do our best and reached the level that we wanted to achieve before the start of the tournament. We lament that we don’t have more matches in the competition, but we are satisfied with our performance today,” declared the Slovenian assistant coach, Simon Krakar.  

“We knew we could win this match. Slovenia played at good level, in accordance with their capacities. This was a routine victory for us, but now we must think about the semifinals,” stated Jovo Cakovic, coach of Serbia. 

Italy vs Germany 3:0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-15) 

Italy beat Germany in a match resolved by the desires of victory of the Italian girls, who showed resilience to overcome the defeat suffered in the previous day. The Azzurrine needed a triumph to maintain their chances to be in the semis, while the German side had a possibility to qualify for the title deciding matches of the weekend only if Jens Tietböhl’s girls beat the Italian squad. However, it was Marco Mencarelli’s girls who demonstrated a greater disposition in the match. With Paola Ogechi Egonu as main reference, Italy dominated the first period, producing an imposing reaction through its attacks and defences. After the 25-21 in the initial set, Italy continued relying on Paola Ogechi Egonu’s performance to dominate the game, and the difference in favour of the Azzurrine became clearer as the game progressed. Alessia Orro’s command of the rallies completed the foundations of Italy’s predominance in the set and ultimately in the match. The German team yielded after seeing how the second period slipped away, as the mistakes in the German reception finished Jens Tietböhl’s girls options to beat their rivals, thus facilitating the journey to victory of the Italian team.  

“We have played our best game in the pool. I am usually not satisfied when we do not get to play for the medals, but I see that the Serbian and Russian teams are better than us. Now we have to watch some videos and learn more about our next opponent,” commented Italian coach Marco Mencarelli. 

“The two teams played today by basing its game on taking risks on service, but Italy made fewer errors. I am a little bit sad, because we played well against three big teams like Italy, Serbia and Russia. We had our chances in these matches but we did not use them and we could not win a single set against them,” stated German coach Jens Tietböhl.

Russia completed the preliminary pool round with a victory against Greece that secured the second position of the pool for Svetlana Safronova’s girls. The Russian team needed the positive result in order to qualify for semifinals, and the young squad did not let the opportunity slip away against a Greek team dreaming of the second triumph in the tournament. Elizaveta Kotova’s actions in the first set put Russia on the road to victory, despite the attempts of the Greek team to impose its predominance in the period. As the sets progressed the powerful offensive system of the Russian team, with Angelina Emelina as main striker, as well as its lack of errors finished the hopes of a victory for the Greek squad. Russia closed the following sets 25-22, 25-16 and achieved its fourth victory in the competition, thus earning a spot in the semifinals.