08/08/2015 21:55
Estonia record tenth straight win to make perfect birthday gift to their coach
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Tallinn, Estonia, August 8, 2015. Estonian men’s national team mentor Gheorghe Cretu turned 47 on Saturday and his players made him a wonderful birthday present ending the group stage of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European League with ten victories out of ten matches they contested. On Saturday Estonia cruised to a 3:1 (21-25, 28-26, 25-16, 25-22) victory over Israel in their second and final matchup of the weekend.
“The real present is the opportunity to be here with these guys and to have the chance to work with this group and try to achieve our goals. I am really proud of them,” Cretu said after the game.
Both teams had their ups and downs in Saturday’s game but at the beginning it was Israel who was off to the better start. The visitors set the pace at both technical time-outs of the opening set (8:6, 16:13) and deservedly brought it to a happy end at 25-21. In the second set Estonia got to the front at 10:8 but they seemed to get stuck after Israel netted four straight points. The set was tight afterwards and the visitors even had three set balls but in the end it was Estonian opposite Renee Teppan’s service ace that sealed the set for the home side (28-26).
Israel had one more run. After losing the third set 16-25, the visitors sprinted to an 8:1 lead in the fourth stanza. Estonia claimed the lead for the first time in the set at 20:19 and eventually finished it off at 25-22. After 105 minutes of play Estonia had grabbed their tenth victory in as many matches they have contested in the European League group stage.
After Friday’s game Israel’s national team mentor Avital Selinger said that he hoped his team could perform better in all fundamentals of the game in the second match. “We did it and it was a strong game from both sides. Eventually Estonia was better in details. For example we made too many service errors and they performed better in this fundamental, especially in some crucial moments. Also in the second set we had our moments but we couldn’t settle them and the momentum of the game changed,” Selinger said.
Best scorer of the game was Israel’s outside spiker and superstar Alexander Shafranovich with 21 points.
Next for Estonia is the European League Final Four coming up on August 13-14 in Walbrzych, Poland. Slovenia and hosts Poland have also secured their participation, with Greece and the Former Y.R. of Macedonia fighting for the last spot in the semis.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
|