Tbilisi, Georgia, September 23, 2017. The second day in Pool B brought the first victory for Croatia after they beat hosts Georgia 3-1 (25-12, 25-13, 23-25, 25-23). The win adds three points to Croatia’s already one won in yesterday’s tiebreaker against Belarus and puts them closer to claiming a spot in the next phase of the EuroVolley in Baku. Italy have claimed six points thus far, securing their place among the teams playing in the next phase of the tournament and remain undefeated after their 3-1 (27-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21) victory over Belarus.
Georgia v. Croatia 1-3 (12-25, 13-25, 25-23, 23-25)
The first set began with a 4-0 lead of Croatia and Georgia wasted no more time, calling a timeout. The break helped, as Georgia scored the two next points and soon later Svetlana Sosnovskaya scored for 6-4 in attack. The first technical timeout came at 8-5 for Croatia. Bernarda Cutuk performed well at the service line, helping Croatia to go from 9-6 to 11-6 and the visitors patiently widened their advantage to 16-7 at the second technical timeout. A good performance by Katarina Barun at the end of the set, with an ace serve and strong diagonal spikes gave Croatia their first set point at 24-11, and Cutuk finished it with a spike at 25-12.
Croatia did not slow down in the second set, quickly turning the score into a 11-4 lead. Georgia decreased the gap to 14-10, but their own mistakes at the service line allowed Croatia to stay far ahead and call for the second technical timeout at 16-10. After four more points for Croatia, Georgian coach Paata Ulumbelashvili called a timeout. The 10-point lead remained until 23-13 and a block gave Croatia set point at 24-13.
Georgia bounced back in the third set, opening it with a 4-1 lead. An ace by Ann Kalandadze made it 6-2 for the hosting team and forced Croatia to take a timeout. Barun attempted to decrease the point difference to 7-4 with a spike, but Ana Batsatsashvili returned the favour and Georgia led 8-4 at the first technical timeout. The hosting team seemed to have found new motivation and their eager play in defence kept them 12-7 ahead. Ulumbelashvili and his team controlled the game until another technical timeout came at 16-8 for Georgia. An attack by Lucija Mlinar and ace serve of captain Samanta Fabris helped Croatia come closer to 16-11. Georgia’s advantage further melted to 22-19 after offensive play of Fabris and Barun. Croatia got to 22-21, but a double block on Barun and a spike off the block by Kalandadze gave Georgia their first set point at 24-22. Fabris cancelled it with a back row spike, but a long serve error gave Georgia their first set at 25-23.
A balanced battle in the fourth set saw Croatia taking the lead at 6-4, with a quick response of Georgia to 7-6. Barun tied at 7-7, but Mariam Gaprindashvili put Georgia 8-7 ahead at the first technical timeout. Croatia found it difficult to keep their two-point lead at 10-8 and 13-11 and coach Igor Lovrinov called a timeout at 13-12. The break seemed to bring expected effect as Croatia moved to 16-12 at second technical timeout, but Georgia kept fighting back, decreasing the gap to 17-15. Barun served an ace for 20-15, but a good serve by Irina Chelidze put Georgia closer to 20-18. Her series continued until 20-20 when a Challenge confirmed a long spike by Mlinar. The streak was eventually broken at 21-21. Teams continued with a tough fight point by point with first match point for Croatia at 24-22 before Barun finished the match with an attack off the block at 25-23.
Quotes
Croatia coach, Igor Lovrinov: "I think I will have to send an official request to CEV to shorten the matches to two sets only. It is difficult to explain in a rational way what happens to my team in the third set. I took this team only a week ago, so it is a short time to get the feeling of it. The team is prepared physically, so we have to look for answers elsewhere.
My biggest challenge when taking over the team seven days ago was the team’s reaction. I didn’t know how they would respond to such a sudden change. I know all of the players as I worked with them four years ago, but it doesn’t matter now. I don’t know them as a group and I have to find that out as soon as possible to produce some good Volleyball."
Croatia captain, Samanta Fabris: "We are satisfied with the result, but not with our game. We can play better and show better Volleyball. The first two sets were not at the highest level, but we won them and - again - I can’t explain what happened to us in the third set. We hope we will go to Baku, but tomorrow we still have to face Italy, who are the strongest side in our pool."
Georgia coach, Paata Ulumbelashvili: "It was a dramatic match. My team played better today and I think we had a chance to win it, but we weren’t lucky."
Georgia captain, Tinatin Tchautchidze: "We tried our best today, but I understand that our team needs more time and experience to play with consistency and at a higher level. I am sure it will come with time."
Georgia Outside-spiker, Ann Kalandadze: "After the second set we understood that this match was probably the most important for us at #EuroVolleyW. We knew it is now or never to solve our problems and mistakes. The outcome of that was improved reception and serving, the fans became louder with their support, which helped us win the third set. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough power to make it to the fifth set."
Italy vs. Belarus 3-1 (27-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21)
Italy and Belarus started the match with an exchange of strong shots and blocks and the latter leading 8-7 at the first technical time out after a block on Caterina Bosetti spiking from the back row. Nadzeya Smirnova increased the Belarusian advantage to 12-9 after a spike off the block and Italy took a timeout. The Azzurre continued to close the gap and Belarus led only 16-15 at the second technical time out. The odds turned to Italy’s favour, who went 21-17 ahead. Neither of the teams managed to keep their leads for long as a double block on Valentina Tirozzi allowed Belarus to stay only 22-21 behind and tie at 23-23 when Paola Egonu spiked long from the back row. Cristina Chirichella gave Italy a first set point at 24-23, but Smirnova tied at 24-24, hitting off the block. Her tip evened the score at 25-25, preventing Italy from winning the set for the second time. Egonu eventually took Italy’s third chance and spiked, ending the set 27-25.
Davide Mazzanti’s team opened the 2nd second with a 6-2 run. Belarus struggled in reception, but tried to make up for it in defence, forcing Italy to make a few errors. Bosetti spiked to keep Italy 8-4 ahead at the first technical timeout. Belarus shortened the gap to 10-8, but Tirozzi tipped over the block for 11-8. An exchange of spikes between opposites Aksana Kavalchuk and Egonu moved the score to 12-10 and Italy remained ahead at the second technical timeout (16-13). The Italians stayed in control, increasing their lead to 18-14. Egonu and Tirozzi showed their offensive skills at 21-16 and 22-17. The first set point came at 24-18 after an ace serve of Chirichella and Italy won the set 25-18 after a double block on Kavalchuk.
The odds turned at the beginning of the third set with Belarus leading 7-4. This was soon tied by Italy at 7-7 and the first technical time out came with 8-7 for Italy following a spike by Raphaela Folie. Belarus responded with a series of five points to go 12-8 ahead. Their streak only stopped after a diagonal attack by Egonu. Belarus kept a four-point lead into second technical time out and forced Italy to call a break at 21-15. Italy kept fighting despite being 23-15 behind, with a spike by Chirichella putting them closer to 23-17. A first set point for Belarus came an action later, but they eventually won the third set at 25-18 after a spike off the block by Tatsiana Markevich.
The level on both sides of the net was very balanced since the first rallies of the match. Kavalchuk spiked through the block for 6-6, but Italy went 8-7 ahead at first technical time out of the fourth set after a spike by Chirichella. Both Italy and Belarus continued playing point by point until 10-10, when Italy went 14-10 as serving Folie gave her team a chance for counter attacks. The advantage was extended to 16-10 at the second technical timeout. It seemed like the beginning of their gateway, as Italy worked towards victory at 20-13, but Belarus fought back to 22-17. A double block on Smirnova gave Italy match point at 24-18 and they eventually edged Belarus 25-21 after a middle spike by Folie.
Quotes
Italy coach, Davide Mazzanti: “Again I’m not satisfied with our level, we made a lot of mistakes. We have another match ahead of us to work on those elements and prepare for the next phase.”
Belarus coach, Piotr Khilko: “The biggest issue on our side was reception, which paid a big role in the result of the first two sets. Once we improved in the third, we were able to play better and win it. We still have to fight to remain in the competition and we have only one choice tomorrow - we have to win against Georgia.”
Belarus Middle Blocker, Hanna Kalinouskaya-Guengoer: “We fought until the end, gave all our mental and physical power to play point by point. We were close in the first set, then we won the third, but the Italian team are more experienced and perhaps our level was not good enough to match theirs. Tomorrow we will have to stick together as a team and not let us relax, but fight for every point.”
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