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The Netherlands vs Germany  0:3 (13-25, 23-25, 22-25)

Germany achieved their second victory in the tournament after beating The Netherlands 3:0 thus stopping the Dutchwomen’s streak of victories in the competition. The German side presented a higher level of proficiency in the game and accomplished a remarkable triumph.

The German players took the match by a storm with a surprising display of efficiency in the first set. Through the spikes completed by Laura Weihenmaier and completing their actions with fewer errors than their rivals, Germany overwhelmed the Dutch squad with an outstanding run of relentless attacks. So persuasive were the German players that the team directed by Luciano Pedullà finished the first set with an impressive 25-13.

The Dutch team yearned to find its place in the game and fought to put an end to its rivals’ amazing demonstration, so Giovanni Guidetti’s ladies tried to control the match imposing more resolution in defence. The Germans’ improvement produced a permanent tie in the scoreboard and equality was extended until the final phase of the second period. However, despite the efforts made by the Oranjes, a block by Mareen Apitz represented the 25-23 and 2:0 lead for Germany.

As the Dutchwomen struggled to offer alternatives to their rivals’ exhibition, Germany continued stating its dominance using Mareen Apitz’s impeccable distribution and Margareta Anna Kozuch's spikes. The Netherlands only managed to save a match ball, but Germany finished the clash with a spike by Anja Brandt.



“We are very happy; we have two wins and one defeat, so we are close to go to quarterfinals, which was our goal. We had excellent teamwork throughout the match. My attackers were awake, so that helped; we were free, we were concentrated and that’s why we won,” commented German setter Mareen Apitz.  

“They just played better. They served better, they attacked better, they defended better… in a word, they were better. We just had more centimetres than them but Volleyball is not just that,” declared the coach of The Netherlands Giovanni Guidetti. 

Serbia vs Bulgaria 3:0 (27-25, 25-12, 25-18)

Serbia and Bulgaria share a border, and today the two neighbouring countries shared spikes, blocks and great digs in a match that changed character completely after Bulgaria misused four set points in the first set. Serbia won 3:0 to take their third straight win.

In the first set Bulgaria again put a lot of faith in the hands of captain Elitsa Vasileva and opposite Emiliya Nikolova, who have been the two top scorers of the Bulgarian team this far in the tournament. Again they contributed well to the Bulgarian score. Bulgaria looked a certain winner of the set in front 24:20, but Serbia miraculously survived four set points and equalised the score at 24:24. The Serbian comeback was a reality when Tijana Malesevic with her fifth point of the set spiked the win home to the west side of the Serbian/Bulgarian border, 27-25.

The many misused set points had drained the spirit of the Bulgarian team in the second set. Serbia on the other hand had a natural boost by the amazing comeback, and in only 24 minutes the set score was 2-0 to Serbia. The swift set win was, as the first, characterised by the many different Serbian scorers. Bojana Zivkovic kept setting the ball in creative ways opening up the Bulgarian blocks, and making it easy for Tijana Malesevic and Brankica Mihajlovic taking turn to spike the set home 25-12.

Now the third straight Serbian win in Crystal Hall in Baku was within reach. And the sight of securing a solid 1st position in Pool B gave Serbia even more surplus in their game. The Bulgarian blocks were torn apart by the thunder spikes of Serbia who had no trouble winning the third set 25-18 and the match 3:0.

“I think that we were at our best level today. This is our third victory [in the tournament] and I think that we did our best game of all of the matches that we have played here. We will try to continue in this pattern. This was our big chance to be the first in the pool, so we are going to try to do our best and we hope that our game is getting better and better,” declared Serbia's opposite Marta Drpa.

The coach of Bulgaria, Dragan Nesic, who is from Serbia, had this comment after the match: “It was a very special match for me. The girls played a really good first set until we had the set points. Then we started making mistakes and got scared of doing like we did against Germany where we also had set points. And Serbia has Jelena Nikolic, who just is unstoppable. She finishes everything. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn. And I hope we learned something today,” he says.

Russia vs Croatia 3:0 (25-22, 25-19, 26-24)

Both Russia and Croatia had lost their first two matches of the tournament, so the last match of the day in Pool B was crucial for the further existence in the tournament. Russia made three amazing comebacks and still has hope to claim a spot in the quarterfinals.

The match started off with a challenge at the very first play, where Croatia had luck in calling a net touch thereby taking the lead. Croatia seemed to have the set under control, but then Russia had what must be one of the longest scoring series in the tournament with 10 points in a row going from trailing 9:14 to a 19:14 lead. Croatia was not able to overcome that comeback, though they came close, and Russia won the set 25-22 after a steep spike by Daria Isaeva.

Croatia seemed determined to prove that the defeat in the first set was a onetime thing and built up a good lead again in the beginning of the second set. But as Russia went from 9:13 to 15:13, the hands the Croatian players began to shake a little. And with good reason. Behind with three points coach Vercesi took his second timeout in a try to turn the set around in favour of his team. But as in the first set, Russia did not let go of their lead and won the set 25-19.