Varna, Bulgaria, September 4, 2016. A rollercoaster match between Belarus and Serbia marked the beginning of the third competition day at the Final Round of the 2016 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship - Men in Varna. After more than two hours of play, it was the Balkan team that emerged victorious from this dramatic five-setter with a final score of 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11). In the second Pool II match of the day, Turkey achieved their second consecutive straight-set win – 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-18) against the Czech Republic. Finally, Italy and Russia put on a great show for the spectators on the Black Sea coast. An incredible comeback from two sets down for a 3-2 (22-25, 16-25, 26-24, 25-12, 15-13) victory booked Italy’s ticket to the top 8 in Plovdiv.
Belarus made the perfect start to the match. Smart float serving, one powerful ace by Uladzislau Rak and great work in defence secured a five-point advantage for the Belarusians at the first technical time-out. Belarus continued to make fewer mistakes and their lead increased to six points at 12-6. Maksim Shkredau was absolutely untouchable in the middle and a single block by Uladzislau Rak extended Belarus’s lead to 18-11. Aleksa Polomac and David Mehic made two blocks in a row to put Serbia back in the game. Kiryl Kapylou spiked out and after a clinical attack by David Mehic the Serbs were only one point behind at 19-20. In the last minutes David Mehic and substitute Nikola Meljanac made two kill blocks in a row to get Serbia into the lead at 24-23. Belarus spiked out again and Vladimir Vasovic’s players won the set by 25-23.
Despite the ending of the first set, the Belarusians started better in the second. A kill block by Viachaslau Shmat and an ace by Maksim Shkredau brought Belarus to four points ahead at 14-10. Mehic spiked out, after which Maksim Shkredau’s kill block in the middle gave the Belarusians a 23-16 advantage. After two unforced errors on the Serbian side, Belarus achieved their first set win of the tournament - 25-17.
Serbia stopped making easy mistakes and for the first time in the match they had an advantage at the first technical time-out - 8-5 in the third set. The Serbs continued to play better than their opponents and at the second technical time-out they were 16-11 up. For a moment Belarus managed to come back in the set, but Serbia did not lose focus and won it by 25-21.
The Belarusians started the fourth set better. Powerful attacks combined with good blocks led the team to two points ahead at the first technical time-out. Middle blocker Petr Miniankou scored an ace and Belarus had a five-point advantage at 11-6. Miniankou made two blocks in a row for 16-10 at the second technical time-out. Vladimir Vasovic’s players were stopped by the solid blockers on the other side of the net and Belarus led by 22-14. Serbia tried to make a great comeback with good serves and fewer mistakes, but the Belarusians had learned their lesson in the first set and won the fourth by 25-21.
Kiryl Kapylou and Uladzislau Rak were on fire in the first minutes of the tie-break. Shkredau scored an ace, Serbia spiked out and Belarus took a 6-3 lead. Vladimir Vasovic took a time-out and after these 30 seconds his players made five points in a row for 8-6. Nikola Meljanac and the second setter Uros Lalic made another kill block to secure a 12-9 advantage for Serbia. The captain of Belarus Kiryl Kubar made another unforced error and after a serve in the net by Kanstantsin Tsiuskhkevich, Serbia won the tie-break by 15-11.
Maksim Shkredau was the top scorer of the match with 19 points for Belarus. His teammate Kiryl Kapylou and Serbia’s Miran Kujundzic scored 16 points each.
Maksim Shkredau, player of Belarus and top scorer of the match: “We played well and we tried to do our best today. In the end we did not manage to make the right decisions in some difficult moments and obviously these situations decided the winner.”
Uladzimir Maisiyevich, coach of Belarus: “We had a 6-3 advantage in the tie-break and we were on the right track, but in one situation the referee made a decision, which may have made the difference in the end. But today my team played really well. We managed to play at a high level against a strong opponent like Serbia during the whole match, so I am satisfied with our performance.”
David Mehic, captain of Serbia: “For sure we did not expect such a difficult match, but Belarus are a strong team. We played against them in the qualification round and we beat them by 3-2 again. After all, the most important thing is the win, so I could not be unhappy. Tomorrow is a free day, so we will have enough time to rest before we come back here on Tuesday for our match against Russia. We will play with heart and we will see...”
Vladimir Vasovic, coach of Serbia: “It was tough, really tough, but we must be satisfied with this victory. For us every one victory at the European Championship is a a great moment and we must be happy. Today we made some mistakes, but we managed to win. The most important thing is the way we play. In all matches we must play with heart. For me this is more important than the victories and today we showed character, we put our hearts on the court. I cannot be dissatisfied.”
Czech Republic vs. Turkey 0-3 (19-25, 13-25, 18-25)
Turkey started the match absolutely motivated to achieve а second victory in a row and with perfect work at all elements took a six-point advantage by the second technical time-out. The Turkish blockers stopped the Czech opposite Matej Smidl and coach Ivan Pelikan subbed in his trump card from yesterday’s game against Russia - Patrick Indra - and the second setter Petr Novak, but even these changes could not stop the Turkish players who won by 25-19.
Coach Mehmet Bedestenloglu’s players continued to dominate on the court and Turkey piled up a six-point advantage by the first technical time-out. Turkey precisely followed the game plan – clever float or powerful serves with good blocking, incredible work in defence and minimum unforced errors. All these meant only one thing – a landslide 25-13 win in the second set!
Czechia started playing better in the third set, but still Turkey opened a two-point gap by the second technical time-out. After the pause, the Turkish players made two kill blocks in a row and from this moment through the end they did not have any further problems to close the set at 25-18.
Martin Hudak, player of Czech Republic: “It was really tough. We tried to do better and to make the right decisions, but … this is Volleyball. Yesterday we played against Russia, we lost in five sets and it was a beautiful match. Everything was great – reception, attack... But today it was horrible. It was a cold shower for us. It began from the reception. Everybody was like ‘calm down, everything will be okay,’ but nobody in the team said out loud: ‘Come on guys, let’s do it! Focus on the match!’ and soon it was 5-11. We have to come back stronger for our next match because this is why we play this game. We have to do this.”
Petr Novak, player of Czech Republic: “We played well in the previous two matches, but today we were tired and we made a lot of mistakes. Our serving was not good during all the sets and we just could not win. We must rest and prepare for our next match. I hope to win.”
Adis Lagumdzija, player of Turkey: “It was almost the perfect match. Today we showed what we can do. It was not like our first match here. Today all my teammates were playing in harmony. We played very well. I hope to come back here the day after tomorrow, and show the same performance against Italy. It seems like we play better and better and I hope for the last matches against Italy and Russia our team will play at peak level.”
Italy vs. Russia 3-2 (22-25, 16-25, 26-24, 25-12, 15-13)
The Russian strategy for this so important match was clear from the first minute – powerful serving and good blocking. Dmitry Yakovlev scored two aces in a row to take Russia to two points ahead at the first technical time-out. But it was with the same Volleyball weapons that Italy took over the lead before the second technical time-out - 16-14. Until the end Russian opposite Yakovlev was the biggest problem for Italy with his bombs from the serving line and coach Mikhail Nikolaev’s players won the opening set by 25-22.
Perfect work near the net by the Russian blockers and one ace by Aleksandr Melnikov gave Russia a 16-10 lead in the second set. Anton Semyshev scored another ace to widen the gap to eight points for 20-12. In the end, Ivan Piskarev broke the Italian reception with another ace and after 25-16 Russia was only a set away from the victory.
After two blocks and one ace in a row Russia brought their terrific run to 5-0 in the third set. At this moment Italy started their great comeback. Gabriele Di Martino made an unthinkable save and soon it was 7-7. Yakovlev scored an ace to give Russia a 16-14 lead. Italy showed good defence and made five points in row through the clinical spikes of Pietro Margutti for a 19-16 lead. Russia did not lose focus and after some kill blocks by Aleksei Kononov they managed to gain two match points. But first Yakovlev missed a golden chance by spiking the ball off bounds and then Italy’s captain Gianluca Galassi stepped in with his float serves and Italy won the set by 26-24.
Galаssi’s float serves destroyed the Russian reception in the fourth set to help Italy gain a 16-7 lead by the second technical time-out. The young Italians continued to dominate and won the set by a comfortable 25-12.
The Italian block made the difference in the start of the tie-break for an 8-6 lead at the side switch. In the next minutes the tactical plan of coach Michele Totire to use float serves worked phenomenally well and Italy won the battle with a 15-13 fifth set win.
Substitute Giulio Pinali contributed 20 points to Italy’s victory and became the best scorer of the match. Dmitry Yakovlev scored 19 for Russia.
Paolo Zonca, player of Italy: “We never stopped playing, we never stopped believing in the victory and this was incredible! I had an injury in the first two matches. I played in the second match, but I was not satisfied, so this game today was very important for me and for all my teammates. Even when Russia had two match points, I was thinking that we must win. While the ball is still in the air, not on the floor, we have chance. And we took it. We won the set and the match - this is incredible!”
Michele Totire, coach of Italy: “In this game, in this sport, the head is the chief. Everything depends on your head; not on technique, not on physique, not on tactics. Everything is in your mind. I am proud of my players because this match was really important for this pool. I think Italy, Russia and Turkey are strong teams and we already have three wins, so it is very good for us. We came here to win a medal. This is true! Today was important because when you beat Russia you improve your team spirit. I am happy for my players, my staff, but the day after tomorrow we must come back here and continue our way.”
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