10/07/2015 22:16
Estonia celebrate memorable European League comeback
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Pärnu, Estonia, July 10, 2015. After a nine-year absence the Estonian men’s national team is back in CEV Volleyball European League and their comeback is to be remembered at least for the Estonian fans as their heroes routed the Former Y.R. of Macedonia in three straight sets (25-9, 25-19, 25-18).
The first set was a total demolition. Estonia sprinted to an 8:1 lead. By that time the team had already recorded four block and three service points. The score was 2:11 when the Former Y. R. of Macedonia’s mentor Zarko Ristoski used his second time-out in the first set. It did not help much because the power balance didn’t change and eventually Estonia won the set 25-9. By that time Estonia already had eight block points – half of them by PARIS Volley middle blocker Ardo Kreek – and seven from their service. The Former Y. R. of Macedonia’s total was nil in both fundamentals with the percentage of their positive reception standing at a miserable 24%.
The other two sets were more competitive and they ended 25-19, 25-18 for the home side. So after only 72 minutes of play Estonia could celebrate its comeback to the European League with a superb victory.
“It is good to start with a positive result and I want to congratulate all the 18 guys who have been in the preparation camp for the last four weeks,” Estonia’s coach Gheorghe Cretu said. “We did a good job in block and defence, but I’m still not satisfied with the result all the way. There is still room for improvement,” he said.
Estonian opposite Oliver Venno was the best player of the match with 20 points, five of them being block stuffs.
“The main problem for us was the reception and of course Estonia served very well during the whole game and we couldn’t find anything to stop them. We haven’t had good competitive games since the end of last year’s European League campaign so that’s also one reason why our game was so wobbly,” said Zarko Ristoski. “We hope to be a little bit better tomorrow and the main task is to improve our reception,” he added.
Tomorrow the two teams meet again in the Estonian summer capital Pärnu.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
|