Serbia is the first team to qualify for the final match of the 2015 CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship – Women, after beating Belgium 3:1 in the first semifinal played in Plovdiv. The Serbian squad proved too strong for the Belgian side and continues to excel in the tournament, achieving its sixth victory in the competition.

In the first set, Serbia gained the lead by means of the winning spikes completed by Katarina Lazovic and Jovana Kocic. Whilst Belgium fought to recover the control of the game with Manon Stragier as main reference, Jovo Cakovic’s girls took over the first period in an effectual performance (25-22). Nonetheless, the young Yellow Tigers showed once again the main secret of their success in this tournament: their heart and their fighting spirit. Basing their game on a perfect strategy from the serving line and a tireless effort in defence, Fien Callens’ girls overwhelmed the Serbian team in a sensational second period, therefore returning the tie to the scoreboard (17-25).  

The hopeful Belgian players tried to manage the physical superiority of their rivals in the remainder of the game, but Serbia produced a powerful display in attack and block, thus preventing the team of Belgium from keeping on surprising the main favourites of the tournament (25-17). As it happened during the second set, Belgium continued offering an excellent display of collective effort and maintained the lead throughout most of the fourth period. However, when the game appeared close to lean to the tie-breaker, Serbia recovered its offensive authority, erased the disadvantage in the scoreboard and finished the set 25-22 and the match 3:1. Serbia will now fight for gold in the final on Sunday. 

“At the end of the match there were one or two situations that we could not control and I think that they were very important. We played very well the second set and the beginning of third one, but after that we made some mistakes. This is normal for players who are growing up. Tomorrow we will play to win, either to get back at Turkey or to beat Russia,” stated Fien Callens, coach of Belgium. The same sentiment was shared by captain Charlotte Coppin. “I think we played very well in the second set; in the third set, we were very close to win whilst in the fourth we missed our chances to equalise and to play the tie-break, “ said the young player. 

The exultant Serbian side celebrated the qualification to the final. “It was a very tough match for us; we played against a team that has the best reception in the tournament. We had more difficulties today than against Russia and Italy, because they defended so well,” explained Jovo Cakovic, coach of Serbia. “It was a difficult game for us and I am very happy that we qualified for the final match tomorrow!” commented Serbian captain Katarina Lazovic. 

The two teams engaged in a disputed show of powerful Volleyball, as Yasemin Özel’s spikes were immediately responded by Ksenia Smirnova’s attacks on the other side of the net, thus causing a continuous reciprocation of points in the scoreboard. In a disputed end of the opening set, Russia employed the notable physical poise of its blocking system to take the lead in the match (23-25). The equality continued in the second period, although the Russian girls managed to obtain a brief advantage in the scoreboard through some unforced errors from their rivals. This situation constituted the slight range that Svetlana Safronova’s disciples needed to put the 0:2 (24-26).

The Turkish team gripped its option to continue in the match, and when Mehmet Nur Bedestenloglu’s pupils desperately needed the comeback, the leaders of pool II accomplished their intentions of extending the game with a recovery in the third period (25-16). With 2:1 in the scoreboard, the equality returned to the game. The Turkish players fought all the way through the remaining of the game in search of the tie-break, and the heirs of the 2013 bronze medallists were even capable of maintaining the lead in the last period. However, Russia did not allow the difference to grow and in an extremely disputed ending of the set, Svetlana Safronova’s girls used their efficiency in attack and block to achieve the decisive 24-26.   

After two thrilling semifinals, the finalists will meet in the anticipated final match of the tournament, as the Serbian and Russian teams will attempt to make their dreams of gold a reality. 

“It was a very tough match; both teams played to win until the end, but I am happy that we won!” declared Svetlana Safronova coach of Russia. “I am glad that we will play in the final tomorrow. Today we made so many mistakes due to the pressure, but tomorrow we will play better against Serbia,” stated Daria Ryseva, captain of Russia.

“We made some critic mistakes in important moments in the game; we fought to the end, but Russia is a strong team and they won,” commented Mehmet Bedestenloglu, coach of Turkey. 

However, as the match progressed, the Italian girls began to settle on the court and commenced imposing control to the Czech’s attacks. Besides, Marco Mencarelli’s disciples used Paola Ogechi Egonu’s excellence in spiking, as well as the good organisation in blocking so to turn the tables of the game. The resilience of the Italian team continued growing in the following sets, and Marco Mencarelli’s girls achieved the final 3:1, a result that puts the Azzurrine in the race for the fifth position.       

“The key of the victory was that we made two important changes in the second set. At the beginning of the match, we were nervous and we had to change our mindsets in order to take the victory. We have achieved our goal to qualify for the World Championship,” explained Marco Mencarelli, coach of Italy. Meanwhile, the captain Alessia Orro declared: “After the first set we analysed our mistakes, we played better than in the first period and we accomplished our big goal, to qualify for the World Championship.”

“We played very well in the first and in the second sets, but we missed the chance to take the victory. We had some problems with our service and with our reception, especially in the third and in the fourth sets,” said Ales Novak, coach of the Czech Republic. 

Germany vs Poland 3:0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-15) 

The team of Germany achieved a conclusive victory over Poland, in the second semifinal match 5-8 in Plovdiv. The German squad presented an exceptional superiority and dominated all three sets, preventing the Polish girls from stepping up their game throughout the clash. The attacks by Vanessa Agbortabi found an easy route to the other side of the court, and the timid attempts of recovery from the Polish team ended in the hands of the German block, or collapsed as a result of the problems that the Polish girls encountered to construct their attacks. The serving efficiency of the German team did not help in Poland's intention of stopping the inspired performance by the German players. The squad directed by Jens Tietböhl broke the equality in the sets through the impact of its serves and Poland was unable to alter the impressive demonstration of the German team. The 3:0 qualifies Germany to fight for the fifth position, while Poland will meet Czech Republic for seventh place in the tournament.