Kraków, Poland, August 28, 2017. Monday was the day to decide the final pool standings.  In the first game of the day Bulgaria battled Slovenia for second place in the group, therefore avoiding the home team of Poland in the play-off phase.  The second match went true to form with Russia taking a straight sets victory over Spain and with it a place in the quarterfinals.  There was a slight scare in the 3rd set though when Spain actually led 23-21, before Russia swept back to take it 25-23.

The schedule for the Playoffs has been confirmed as:

• Katowice 17:30 ITA vs TUR / 20:30 FRA vs CZE
• Krakow: 17:30 BUL vs FIN / 20:30 POL vs SLO

Bulgaria vs Slovenia

Slovenia had much to be happy about, for their regular opposite, Mitja Gasparini, came back into the starting six after missing two previous games because of an injury. In the beginning of the first set neither team was able to obtain an advantage bigger than two points. The course of this part of the match appeared to be due to some nervousness that was visible on both sides of the net, which resulted in many unforced errors. Nikolay Nikolov nonetheless managed to get an ace after numerous poor serves by his team to make it 16-14 in favour of Bulgaria. A triple block even raised the lead to three points and Bulgaria seemed a little more comfortable and they did not let Slovenia come back until 24-19. Then Gasparini with his powerful performance on the serving line gave the Slovenians a chance to win three rallies in a row but Tsvetan Sokolov’s spike ended the set at 25-22.

Coach Kovač’s team started the second set on a high gear and raced ahead to 6-3 with much help from Gasparini who looked a lot more confident than earlier and more or less kept the margin untouched at three points until Bulgaria began to raise their heads and their towering triple block eventually gave them a slight advantage at 11-10. Both sides played far more freely as the lead was taken back and forth right to the end of the set when Slovenia fought ferociously only to lose the overtime 26-28 after Nikolov’s single block.

Slovenia completely surrendered the third set, with an ace of Bulgarian captain Viktor Yosifov making it 11-4. Then the Slovenians showed some signs of waking up and won three rallies in a row but they did not go any further as Bulgaria sailed safely to a 3-0 win. The game ended with a Daniel Koncilja’s service fault at 3-0 (25-22, 28-22, 25-17).

Tsvetan Sokolov again was the leader of the Bulgarians with 21 points, while Gasparini scored 9 for Slovenia.

Quotes

Bulgarian coach Plamen Konstantinov: "It is too early to calculate who will be our opponent in playoffs and who potentially in quarter-finals.  For me the facts are the most important.  In this tournament there is no shortage of surprises. We take part in the European Championship and we must play well. We remembered the Slovenians’ success from two years ago. I’m especially glad for today’s victory. We played well, our tactics was ok, we had a good block, because we read the play of Slovenian setter. We were better organised in the key moments of the game. We pushed pressure on opponents by strong services. I think we are physically prepared to play matches day after day. We need a better mentality and we can beat every participant of the European Championship."

Bulgarian Setter Georgi Bratoev: "I remember our previous victory over Slovenia in Sofia during Olympic qualifications London 2012. Today’s match was also very important for both teams. We won and we finished second in the Pool C.  We are going to face Finland, a strong team. We played against them a lot of the time. In the tournament we didn’t start good against Russia. The game against Spain was better and finally the best today."

Bulgarian middle blocker Nikolay Nikolov: “The match was great, when you win 3-0 always the feeling is like happiness as we needed this victory after our bad start.  Also against Spain we did not do so well, so we needed to show we can play really good Volleyball. It does not matter who we play in the Playoffs as if you want to be a strong team, if you want to be first, you have to beat everyone.”

Slovenian coach Slobodan Kovač: “I don’t know where the key is. After the game against Russia I told my players to believe because they were able to play on the same level as a very strong team. Today the situation was the same – in the first set we had a two-point lead four times, we had chances to make it three, four – we made some, as I call it, “impossible mistakes”. We had some counter-attacks that needed just to be finished and we didn’t do it. I think that we are afraid to win.”

Slovenian opposite Mitja Gasparini: “Maybe we didn’t give them, but we “half-gave” them, the second set because we had a chance and didn’t take it. Then, the third set was a little bit terrible, for our attack didn’t work from the start right to the end and we were struggling. They served really hard, so it was difficult for our attackers to score.”

Russia vs Spain

In the second game at TAURON Arena on Monday Russia faced Spain – a match that would have caused a great surprise if it had changed the standings in Pool C. The score was not a sensation though, as the quick, one-sided duel ended in a three-set (25-19, 25-13, 25-23) Russian victory that secured them a place directly in quarterfinals.

The Spaniards kept the score close right from the start, maintaining only a one-point deficit at the second technical break. They managed to fight off the efforts of the Russian block but this state of affairs lasted only until Maxim Mikhailov came to the serving line and quickly made it 20-16 for Russia. The scoreboard showed 23-17 after Sergio Noda was stopped by a triple block, and Maksim Zhigalov finished the set at 25-19 with an ace.

Then, as the final group standings were fixed and Russia secured themselves first place, they raced ahead to 8-4 with much ease. Keeping control of the match did not seem to tire them at all and the Russian middle-blockers absolutely dominated the middle of the net. Ilia Vlasov closed it out at 25-13.

Spain regrouped in the third and did not fall behind early. They even managed to tie the set up at 18 and take a 21-19 lead with a Juan Manuel Gonzalez’s ace. Mikhailov struggled on the right wing but from 23-21 for Spain the Russians raised their level and won four points in a row with Dmitrii Volkov’s spike ending the game at 25-23.

Russian star opposite Mikhailov scored 18 while his counterpart Augusto Renato Colito had 11.

Quotes

Spanish coach Fernando Muñoz: “I’m happy with our performance. In the first set before Mikhailov’s series from the service line, and also in the third, we were fighting and we played very well tactically. Of course in the right moment the level of their serve went up and we suffered on our side-out – it’s not easy; we talked about the Russian block and their play at the net – thus they could control us. In general, for us it was a good game but we lacked some luck to close out the third set in order to play more sets and to give my players more competition.”

Spanish outside hitter Juan Manuel Gonzalez: “We played better than in the other matches but Russia was too strong for us – I think they are the strongest team in our group and one of the favourites to win the championship. We played the best we could but the result didn’t come our way.”

Russian coach Sergey Shlyapnikov: “The team did what it had to do and won 3-0. I could give a chance to players who didn’t play in the previous matches. I know what they can do, who can play in the next games. We got quite a lot of information and we can take optimal decisions before our next performances in the championship. Egor Kliuka returned to the team and that means he is ready to play again. I don’t know who will be our next opponent -  Poland or Slovenia. We have two days for some practice and analysis before the quarterfinal on Thursday. It will be another very important match not only for us but for Poland or Slovenia, too.”

Russian outside hitter Egor Kliuka: “We tried to forget about the last European Championship. Now we are playing in Poland and we have advanced to the quarterfinals. It’s the most important thing. I was injured and I couldn’t play in the Wagner Memorial in Krakow two weeks ago, so I don’t know which team is stronger - Poland or Slovenia. For sure, we must present a high level of play. I feel good. Everything has been going according to plan thus far.”

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