Katowice, Poland, August 31, 2017.  Germany secured a spot in the LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 semifinals by managing a 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 25-23, 25-20) victory over the Czech Republic in the first of two quarterfinals, staged at the Spodek in Katowice on Thursday evening. The Germans overcame an inspired Czech performance and will be travelling to Krakow where, on Saturday, they will meet the winner Serbia in a race for the gold medal match.

Although these two teams had met only a few days ago in Szczecin, they spent the first set sizing each other up, without taking many risks. The Germans proved better at this game of patience and circumspection and their leader György Grozer still managed to pile up nine points on the way to a 25-22 win.

It was as if the outcome of the first set released some of the pressure from the shoulders of the Czech players and they started showing more and more of their game in the second. Stepping up their blocking effort, they blunted the German offence, broke far away in the score and never looked back – 25-16.



When nothing else works, give it to Grozer. This seemed to be the German strategy in the third set and indeed the powerful opposite added another eight spiking points to his already impressive tally. But what made the real difference was the blocking. This time it was working for the Germans. Captain Lukas Kampa made three kill blocks in this nip-and-tuck set and, on first set point, it was Marcus Böhme whose block put an end to the set at 25-23.



With Katowice only minutes away from the Czech border, many crossed over to support their team from the stands at the Spodek and never stopped cheering for their own. The team coached by Michal Nekola attempted a comeback, taking the lead in the fourth set with revived blocking and Michal Finger on fire in attack. But, keeping on their toes, the Germans regained control halfway through the set. Ruben Schott took a shot to set the match point and Grozer crowned his brilliant performance in this match with a powerful ace for 25-20.



György Grozer was the game’s top scorer with 23 points, followed closely by Michal Finger with 21.



Lucas Kampa, captain of Germany: "I think it was really difficult. We started with very bad serving and we had problems with putting the ball on the other side. The Czechs played the way we expected. They did not surprise us at all. I am happy that we managed to get out of this difficult situation. We made a lot of errors during the whole game, but in the very decisive moments we managed to reduce them at least a little bit. Before the semifinals we have to improve everything (laughing). For sure we have to serve better and be courageous. It looked like we were scared to play very offensively. If you want to play in the finals, you have to serve well."

Andrea Giani, coach of Germany: "This quarterfinal proved how important it is to have a solid squad on the bench. Ruben Schott replaced Christian Fromm, stabilised the reception and allowed Lukas Kampa to have more options in setting. I told my players to focus on particular elements and that paid off. The best example was György Grozer and his ace that gave us the semifinal. Keeping this focus will be key in Krakow."

Michal Finger, player of Czech Republic: "We played for maximum risk. Germany played really well. We did not manage to break the Germans’ game. They were simply better than we were. We played well in the second set, when we made just few mistakes, unlike our opponents. Well, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Unfortunately, this time we lost."

Michal Nekola, coach of Czech Republic: "It was a great fight till the end. We were so close. I am proud of my boys, because they fought till the end and it was a small difference between us and Germany during the first and the fourth sets. We want to go to the next European Championship so in the next season we will change a little bit our team, because some of the guys want to finish their careers, so we have to take some fresh and younger guys and prepare them for the next season. For us, the first match against Slovakia in the pool was very important, because we wanted to go through to the next round and we did it. Then we played very well against Italy and after that match we started believing that we can do more and go to the semifinals."

Match Highlights

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