Nitra, Slovakia, August 27, 2016. The waiting has finally come to an end. The first matches of the 2016 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship - Women in Nitra brought out some thrilling matches, with the national teams from Belgium, Turkey and Bulgaria all claiming their maiden victories in the competition.
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Croatia vs. Belgium 2-3 (20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-22, 12-15)
Both teams started out in a nervous way and made a few mistakes at the beginning of the first match of #EuroVolleyU19W. Belgium took the lead at the first technical timeout due to a weak attack by Croatia that offered them a two-point advantage (8-6). The score didn’t change after the break and Belgium became even more dominant as outside-spiker Yasmin Vleminckx smashed the ball through her opponents' block to 20-14. At this point it was an easy job for the Yellow Tigers; Belgium’s outside-spiker Manon Stragier converted the second set ball with a strong attack down the line to 25-20. A strong service by Belgium was the key point in the second set and destroyed all hopes of a successful reaction by Croatia. The team of head coach Fien Callens went up to 16-7 at the second technical time out and dominated the game in all aspects; Justine D´Hondt closed it out when the scoreboard displayed a clear 25-16.
Croatia produced an absolutely shocking run in the third set and combined a great service with a strong defence to claim an 11-2 lead. This result was the starting signal of an inspiring comeback by the Belgian girls who presented themselves more confident and it seemed that they were on the way to finish it all off at 18-19, but Ema Strunjak, middle blocker and captain of Croatia, delivered some great blocking actions to increase the lead once again to a comfortable 23-18 for her side. A service fault by D´Hondt ended the Volleyball rollercoaster in advantage in a 25-20 set win for Croatia.
The opener dropped into a real thriller as Croatia won the fourth set (25-22) to force the decider. Team Belgium caught the better start and took a five point advantage (10-5) but the team of Coach Marija Anzulović never gave up and was almost close to levelling the score (12-13). At this time the strong service of the Yellow Tigers was the ace in their hands and broke the resistance of their opponents; a Croatian attack fault made the last point and cared for a good start for Belgium in the European Championship. Silke Van Avermaet from Belgium was the top scorer with 23 points. On the other side of the net, Ema Strunjak scored 20 times for Croatia.
Fien Callens, Belgium coach: “We started well and had a great commitment to all the tasks we had to do. I knew at the end of the second set Croatia were serving better with less faults and mistakes in attack. Reception we know at this level will always be serve reception, it will be very important. When you see the opponent is doing everything better, you really have to find and search for the points. It was difficult for the mind and it will be very important for my group. We have to learn about the third and fourth sets. It’s a great experience and I hope we can move on and become stronger mentally during the tournament.”
Charlotte Coppin, Belgium captain: “The third set they came back and it became a little difficult. But in the end we played as a team and were enthusiastic. It’s our motto to be enthusiastic and aggressive and that went well so we won the game. The third set is always difficult because you have to win it. We couldn’t play the same game and lost it.”
Marija Anzulović, Croatia coach: “It was a really bad start by my team. We didn’t exist in the first two sets and were very nervous but we acted without service, attack and defence. After that the girls started a great comeback and the spectators have seen that they tried everything to win the first game. Unfortunately it was not enough.”
Ema Strunjak, Croatia captain: “I am not disappointed with our performance after the second set. It is our first U19 competition, so we were very nervous before the start and had big problems to find a way into the game. We want to win the next one so that we still have the chance to reach the finals.”
Slovakia vs. Turkey 1-3 (18-25, 24-26, 25-23, 24-26)
Turkey started the match comfortably and led by five points till the middle of the first set (16-11). The hosts were shocked and had no chance, showing problems especially in the attack. As a result of this, the former European Champion had no problem to finish it in an easy way at 25-18. The second set became the most exciting that the spectators have seen so far in Nitra. Both teams delivered a great show, including long and exciting rallies which underline the high quality on the field. It was Slovakia that had two set balls at the score of 24-22 but they couldn’t convert their chances for a win. However, the thrilling phase was decided with four consecutive points of the Turkish Team to 26-24 and a defence fault of Slovakia.
Again the team of Coach Onur Carikci started to dominate it opponents and created a huge advantage (21-14) which should have been enough to claim the first victory at the European Championship. It looked like that they did not expect the strong response of the Slovakian girls as outside-spiker Karolina Fricova started a enormous service run, making two direct points to 23-22. The set ended with a spike by opposite Karin Sunderlikova who closed a miracle comeback at 25-23. It became even a closer game in the fourth set when Slovakia could hold a small advantage of two points till the second technical time out (16-14). Turkey found a way back in the game when middle blocker Zehra Günes motivated her team with a great monster block to 23-22 which was the first lead since the beginning of the set. Finally, Turkish Captain Burcu Tutku Yüzgenc made the last point after a long rally to spark of a cheering storm by her teammates (26-24).
Eva Kosekova, Slovakia coach: “We are a little bit sad, because we were so close to take a minimum of at least one point against a strong Turkey. On the other side, I am happy for my players because they have shown a very good performance. Congratulations to Turkey, they deserved to win. In the end we made too many mistakes in our service which was the main difference. I´m sure, if we are able to continue to perform on this level, we will achieve some good results in the next day.”
Lucia Sedlackova, Slovakia captain: “Of course we are disappointed that we missed the victory against Turkey. They were the favourite in this match but we made a great fight and were near to a surprise. We didn’t play a qualification and had just some friendly games before the start of the tournament, so I guess that we can be proud as well. I look forward to the next games and have a good feeling after the start.”
Tutku Burcu Yüzgenç Turkey captain: “It was a difficult game for us because it was our first game and they are the home team but it was a good experience for us. Because it was the first game we were on and off, up and down. I hope that in later matches we will be more up. We never worried once Slovakia got the set back.”
Onur Carikci, Turkey coach: I am happy to win but everytime it’s the first match it’s very important. Today we lost the belief to win so many times. The first two sets were fine but then we started to feel a problem after reception mistakes. We won 3-1 and have three points so I hope tomorrow we will be so much better. Slovakia plays at home so it was normal for the crowd to be so loud. It was a very hard match but now we prepare for Belgium tomorrow.”
France vs. Bulgaria 2-3 (19-25, 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 12-15)
France and Bulgaria contested the last match of the first competition day in Nitra and the fans saw two teams with the mission of achieving a great #EuroVolleyU19W start. It was no surprise that they fought for every point and delivered a great battle in every moment. So the first set started in the best way for France (8-5) but the Bulgarian Team bounced successfully back and turned the score to 19-25 during an excellent block festival.
The things changed with the beginning of second set. Lisa Jeanpierre, outside-spiker of France and the best scorer of her team in the end with 20 points, put her girls in the position for winning two sets in a row with 25-20 and 25-20. In the fourth set, the French Team snatched an 8-5 leadership at the beginning. Again and again the Bulgarian outside-spikers were stopped by their opponents defence which seemed almost insuperable. The well-working French block-defence system was not enough to keep the distance due to a weak attack on their own side and the Bleues dissipated an 18-14 lead before losing the fourth set 20-25. Bulgaria began the decider with a firework, scoring five points in a row to 5-0. Although the French girls invested all their passion and spirit, they never had the chance to close the deficit and lost 12-15. Best scorer of the match was Ani Bozdeva of Bulgaria with 24 points.
Philippe-Marie Salvan, France coach: “I am very proud of my team because we fought all the way through. The last serve was unlucky but I think we played a great game and that was just the first game. If we stay at this level I think we will win some games. We are at a European Championship, it happens one time in your life so it’s impossible to be tired after one long game ahead of another game tomorrow.”
Dimo Tonev, Bulgaria coach: “I am very happy that we finished our comeback in this way. We had a lot of problems with the French defence but we could improve our attack at the right time. It is great to have the first two points on our side, so it will be easier to prepare the team for the next game against Croatia tomorrow.”