17/05/2015 21:28
Home party in Nova Gorica, Slovenia claim qualification for U21 World Champs
2015 FIVB U21 Men Volleyball World Championship - European Qualification
Nova Gorica, Slovenia, May 17, 2015. Slovenia completed their triumphal march at the home tournament in Nova Gorica by recording a 3:1 victory over Germany (23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-23) to qualify for this year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship in Mexico. Though they had finished fourth at last year’s U20 European Championship in Brno to assert their steady rise to the continental elite, this historic result remains a major sensation especially since real Volleyball powerhouses such as Germany and Russia were also starring this weekend in Nova Gorica.
Waiting for the ‘grand finale’ starring Germany and hosts Slovenia, Russia and Belgium opened the programme of the last competition day in Nova Gorica. As they both had lost their respective matches with Germany and Slovenia, their only hope was to finish the tournament at least with one win and Belgium eventually succeeding in fulfilling this goal as they claimed a marathon five-setter with the reigning U20 European champions from Russia (23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 16-14).
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Russia vs. Belgium 2:3 (25-23, 15-25, 18-25, 25-23, 14-16)
The first match of the final day in Nova Gorica turned into a real marathon which lasted for two hours and 15 minutes before Belgium eventually had the upper hand at the end of a dramatic tie-break. The first set was really close and the teams exchanged the lead back and forth through to the end. Russia eventually edged ahead by scoring two in a row to make it 25-23 in their favour. The second set was more one-sided with Belgium leading the way by 8:4 at the first technical time-out. They widened their lead slowly but surely and with their effective attacks they finished it off at 25-15. The score remained tight up to 18 all in set 3 before Belgium broke away by combining a solid defence with a series of successful attacks (25-18). The fourth set was another close race as the first one with neither team being able to claim a comfortable lead. As they had done in the opening set, the Russians scored two in a row towards the end to seal the final 25-23 and call for the tie-break. Russia stretched momentum to the tie-break going up by 8:5 but Belgium responded by scoring three in a row. They levelled the score and eventually moved it to 14:11 for three consecutive match balls. However, Russia did not give in and restored the balance at 14 all. However, Belgium was able to stand the pressure of such furious comeback and with another two points the young ‘Red Dragons’ brought the match to an end in their favour.
“It wasn’t nice Volleyball, but more some kind of ‘fighting Volleyball’,” commented Belgium’s mentor Joel Banks. “Since both teams were still waiting for their first victory in this tournament, you could see how motivated they were and none did give up an inch until the end. So I am really happy that we won.”
Germany vs. Slovenia 1:3 (25-23, 22-25, 16-25, 23-25)
The hosts of Slovenia completed their home fairy tale by cruising to a 3:1 victory over Germany to seal their ticket to this year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship in Mexico. A sell-out crowd was in attendance on Sunday in Nova Gorica for the ‘grand finale’ starring Slovenia and Germany. The score remained tight up to 10:10 in the first set and after that Slovenia got control of the operations by scoring five points in a row. However, Germany responded with three aces and some more excellent serving contributed by their opposite to catch up and with eight straight points they claimed the lead in the score. Slovenia reduced their gap to two points but still could not prevent their opponents from winning the first set by 25-23 to the delight of their opponents’ friends and parents who were also in attendance.
Great Volleyball actions delighted the audience also in the second set where Slovenia claimed the lead early on and did not relinquish it. The German coach tried to stop the Slovenian march by asking for a time-out but he was not successful as they could not reduce their gap to less than two points.
The third set was dominated by the Slovenian team who imposed their rule in all aspects of the game. After the score was levelled at 8 all, Slovenia broke away and slowly but surely widened their lead, reaching the second technical time-out with a margin of four points (16:12). The hosts scored another four straight points and this way paved the way for a mighty 25-16 to close set 3.
Slovenia looked extremely determined also at the beginning of the fourth set and set the pace at both technical time-outs (8:4, 16:11). The local fans thought the match would come quickly to an end but they did not reckon with the fighting spirit of the Germans who fought back and tied the score at 20. The final section of the set was really dramatic but helped by their fans the hosts had the upper hand in the end thereby starting their party following their qualification for this year’s World Championship.
Home mentor Iztok Ksela looked absolutely thrilled and commented: “Some extraordinary feelings come up after such a victory. When we started this competition we could not imagine that we would have qualified for the World Championship at the end of this adventure. The guys played a great match, except maybe for a couple of mistakes in reception, but other than that, everything else was just great. I am very proud of them. Many thanks are to be addressed to our loud and passionate fans that have supported us throughout the whole tournament.”
Germany’s outside spiker David Sossenheimer said: “After two victories and the level of performance we showed throughout this weekend, this loss comes as a big disappointment. The Slovenians, nevertheless, were just the better side in this match and they played great in defence and also with their counterattack. As far as we are concerned, I think we did not show our best today.”
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