Baku, Azerbaijan, June 19, 2015. Pool B of the women’s competition at the inaugural European Games is reaching its defining moments and the stars in action use up all the opportunities to shine in the remaining and thrilling matches. The clashes in the pool started with Croatia achieving their first victory in the competition in a demonstration of team spirit against Bulgaria 1:3 (23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 23-25).
The Netherlands won a dramatic five setter against Serbia when the Oranjes let go of their search for perfection 3:2 (20-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-16, 15-9).
Russia won the midnight tiebreak battle of the mind against Germany 3:2 (24-26, 25-9, 25-20, 22-25, 15-10).
Click here for a live gallery of all the matches of the day.
Click here for more information, including statistics and competition programme.
Bulgaria vs Croatia 1:3 (23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 23-25)
Croatia fulfilled their dream of inaugurating their tally of victories in the competition after beating Bulgaria in a hard-fought encounter. The sensational performance by Senna Usic Jogunica and Samanta Fabris paved the way to the coveted first win in the tournament for the Croatian side.
The team trained by Angelo Vercesi imposed a firm start of the game, so to put the match in the road to accomplish its goal of victory. The efficiency of the Croatian side took Bulgaria by surprise in the early stages of the match (16:10), but the Bulgarian ladies were able to recover and managed to return the equality to the period. In a disputed finish of set, Croatia maintained their level of excellence and put the final 25-23 on the scoreboard.
As opposed as to what occurred in the initial period, Bulgaria took control of the second set by means of their blocks and Emiliya Nikolova’s spikes (16:14). However, in a roller coaster of actions, the leadership of the game changed hands in the defining phases of the set, a situation that ultimately was beneficial for Croatia. Senna Usic Jogunica’s and Samanta Fabris’ contribution was crucial, and Croatia got victory at their hands' reach (25-23).
Nonetheless, Bulgaria had not said their last word and produced a courageous reaction in the third set. Through the attacks signed by Emiliya Nikolova and the cooperation in block and spike by Hristina Ruseva, the Bulgarian side took a clear lead in the period with differences growing progressively as the set evolved. The offensive expertise by the Bulgarian ladies propitiated a speedy 25-15.
Bulgaria yearned the tie-break and imposed intensity and tension in the continuation, using Emiliya Nikolova’s forceful offensive performance to rule the period from the beginning (8:7, 16:12, 21:17). However, showing an outstanding motivation and a sensational resilience, Croatia turned the tables as the period was reaching its end. Senna Usic Jogunica took charge of the team and presented a fantastic proficiency in offensive actions (26 points, 46% of excellent attacks) to lead Croatia to victory. A spike by the captain of the team put the final 25-23 and confirmed the first triumph and the celebrations in the Croatian camp.
“I am very proud of this young and new team. This is the result of our hard work the last weeks and I would like to congratulate especially our young players, who showed today how brave they are and how much they believe in themselves. This is what it is important to me, the energy we showed today,” stated the captain of the Croatian team and main star of the match, Senna Usic Jogunica.
“We started off with a bad performance right from the beginning. We made way too many mistakes, and that is unusual for this team. As the match evolved it was hard to play against Croatia when they were in front with five and six points of advantage all the time. We couldn’t find our rhythm. Now we have to put in all our mentality and our heart to win against The Netherlands in the last match,” said the coach of Bulgaria Dragan Nesic.
Serbia vs The Netherlands 2:3 (25-20, 22-25, 28-26, 16-25, 9-15)
Serbia and The Netherlands were dueling for the top spot in Pool B. Even though the Netherlands won the intense 2 hours and 22 minutes battle, Serbia is still on top as the match ended in a tie-break.
As the tournament in Baku is going into its seventh day, it was time for the star players of Serbia and The Netherlands to shine again in the battle for the top position in Pool B. Serbia’s Milena Rasic was one of the players who had carried a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, while Lonneke Slöetjes had been a scoring machine for the Dutch so far in the tournament.
The two profiles continued their high level game today. In the first set, Milena Rasic dominated the center of the court and the rest of her teammates had the upper hand as they increased an 8:7 lead to 16:12 from the first to the second timeout and won the set 25-20.
In the second set Lonneke Slöetjes almost spent more time in the air than on the ground as the 24 year old kept spiking the ball into the ground from all thinkable and unthinkable angles being a constant threat in the Dutch attack. The two teams held hands until 22:23 before the Oranjes closed the set 25-22.
The video challenge system has been used diligently in the tournament. Again in the third set the system proved its right belongings in Volleyball. Serbia and The Netherlands fought a hard and exhausting set, before the Dutch had three set points at 24, 25, and 26. The Netherlands thought that they had their fourth set point on their hands, when Yvon Belien blocked the ball in the Serbian floor. But the coach of Serbia Zoran Terzic called a challenge for net touch. After the referee had reviewed the incident on the video screen, the point was converted in Serbia’s favour giving them the 27:26 lead which they again converted into the set win 28-26.
With the first three sets of the match having been incredibly close, the expectations were that the fourth set also would be a close encounter. But The Netherlands wanted it different and left Serbia behind from the middle of the set. With an attack arsenal consisting of Maret Balkestein-Grothues, Robin de Kruijf (16 points), Celeste Plak (17 points), and of course Lonneke Slöetjes the Dutch blasted a swift 25-16 set win home and forced the match into tie-break. Giovanni Guidetti’s Oranje troops continued riding on the successive fourth set in the tie-break. Femke Stoltenborg kept a quick pace and directed the Dutch offense in a variety of skillful setting giving The Netherlands a 15-9 win.
“In the first two matches we have been struggling to stick to our game plan. When you see this team in practice, you think we will be champions of the European Games. Everything looks so good, but then we freeze on the court. When we are able to stop thinking so much about playing perfect and start playing with our hearts instead, then we play our best Volleyball, and we managed that today,” said Celeste Plak, who scored 17 points in the match.
“It was a very tough match. Before the game, we knew it would be difficult for us. I am very sorry, not because we lost 3:2, but because we didn't play so well. I think this was the worst of our games since the start of the competition. I hope it was one bad accident for us. Now we have to work and hope it will be better the next game. We made a lot of mistakes. A lot. We gave many easy points to the Dutch team. We definitively did not play well,” said the coach of Serbia, Zoran Terzic.
Germany vs Russia 2:3 (26-24, 9-25, 20-25,25-22, 10-15)
The psychological aspect of Volleyball is never to be underestimated. This was proven in the last match of the day in Pool B, where Germany faced Russia.
It does not matter how long you are behind, as long as you have the most points at the end of the set. That philosophy was in the mind of the Germans in the first set. Coach Luciano Pedullà’s team had a taste of the lead at 2:1, and then Russia took over and got themselves to 24:23 serving for the set. Here Germany demonstrated what a strong mind is worth in Volleyball. They survived the Russian set point, won the next two points as well and the set 26-24.
As seen many times, not only here in the European Games, but in all Volleyball matches, a narrow set win often generates a loss of concentration in the following set as the teams start to relax. This was also the case in the second set where Russia was determined to get back at Germany and exploded in a firework of spikes in a turbo set win 25-9 in 25 minutes.
Germany found their concentration again in the third set, and now the contest was no longer a battle of the mind as much as it was a battle of blocks and spikes. In that contest the two teams were very even all the way to 20:20, but then the Russian duo of Anastasia Bavykina and Irina Zaryazhko hit five in a row to the set win 25-20.
In the lead 2-1 in sets, Russia could discern a way more comfortable position in Pool B with a win. Did the Russians win 3-1 they would overtake both Bulgaria and tonight’s opponent Germany in the table and find themselves in 3rd position before the last round of pool matches the day after tomorrow. On the other hand, Germany would be sure of a spot in the quarterfinals if they won the match. Knowing what was at stake, the fourth set of the midnight match became an all even affair. Germany had been behind from the very first point of the set, but proved yet again their strong mindset and turned the set around as late as 22:21 and won it 25-22 sending the match into tiebreak.
Would the tiebreak be as the second set where Germany stalled after a close encounter the set before? The drawing was there, as Russia blasted themselves to 3:0. German coach Luciano Pedullà used his mind trick to turn the tiebreak around and called a timeout. It helped, as Germany won the following point, equalised at 7:7, and was in the lead at 8:7, when the two teams changed sides. But then three points in a row for Russia forced Germany to use their last team timeout. Die Mannschaft called a touch challenge at 11:8 to Russia, holding on to last hope of a mental game changer, but without luck. Russia won the tiebreak 15-10 and the match 3:2 after an exhausting 146 minute battle of the minds.