Tbilisi, Georgia, September 24, 2017. On the last day of competition in Pool B, the direct clash between Georgia and Belarus would determine the team that would continue their journey at #EuroVolleyW. Belarus defeated the hosts in straight sets to eventually claim second place in the pool. Italy topped the final standing after beating Croatia in five sets later in the evening, with Croatia settling for third place in the group - thus also progressing to the Playoffs. As for hosts Georgia, they bid farewell to the competition they have been co-hosting together with Azerbaijan after taking one set from the historic three matches they contested on home soil in Tbilisi. 

Georgia vs. Belarus 0-3 (8-25, 11-25, 12-25)

Nadzeya Smirnova wasted no time, putting pressure on Georgia from the service line and giving her team opportunities for offensive play to go 4-1 ahead. Belarus forced the hosts to make further mistakes, before boasting an 8-3 lead at the first technical timeout. Georgia called a timeout when the gap grew to 10-3. Tatsiana Markevich spiked through the block for 12-4 and Mariam Gaprindashvili responded with a similar action, giving Georgia their 5th point. Belarus consistently extended the lead to 16-6 at the second technical timeout. Georgia coach Paata Ulumbelashvili called a timeout at 22-8, when his team found it difficult to receive Anastasiya Harelik's serve. A double block on Ann Kalandadze gave Belarus their first set point and the team used their first chance, claiming the set at a canter (25-8).

Georgia reacted, keeping the score closer than in the previous set with a tie at 3-3, but a block on Svetlana Sosnovskaya put Belarus 6-4 ahead. Belarus followed with another block, this time stopping Kalandadze, extending their lead to 8-4 at the first technical timeout. That was only the beginning of their reign in the second set, as the advantage shortly grew to 11-5 and 18-9. Georgia kept motivating each other after Gvantsa Ulumbelashvili scored their 10th point with a diagonal attack. Two ace serves by Markevich made it 22-10 and she remained on the service line until Belarus had their first set point at 24-10. The set finished at 25-11 after a spike by Anzhelika Barysevich. 

Belarus kept the momentum, opening the third set with an 8-3 lead at the first technical timeout. Their concentration remained on point as they kept pushing the hosting team in all elements and jumped to 16-7 in no time.  Despite taking a break at 20-9, Georgia did not manage to improve their performance. A double block on Ana Batsatsashvili made it 22-9 for Belarus. Irina Chelidze spiked for point no. 12 for Georgia, but a tip over the block gave Belarus a match point in the next action. Chelidze spiked long, giving Belarus a straight set victory at 25-12. 

Quotes

Belarus coach, Piotr Khilko: “Our plan was to win as many matches as possible to go to Baku. Now, in the next phase the plan will be the same. We will fight for each match and do our best.”

Belarus captain, Aksana Kavalchuk: “We achieved almost everything we were planning in this phase of the competition with the exception of the two first sets against Croatia. We tried to do our best here and the story will be the same in Baku.”

Croatia v. Italy 2-3 (23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-10, 11-15)

Croatia began with a slight lead, soon tied by Cristina Chirichella’s attack at 4-4. Paola Egonu took Italy ahead at 6-5, but Croatia bounced back to lead 8-7 at the first technical timeout. The gap increased to 9-7 and was maintained further, when Bernarda Cutuk spiked at 12-10. An ace serve by Valentina Tirozzi tied the score at 12-12, but Croatia continued their offensive play, led by Katarina Barun and Samanta Fabris and took their advantage to 16-12 at a second technical timeout. Italy worked their way back to one point behind at 17-16, forcing Croatia to call a timeout. Italy went 19-18 ahead after a double block by Raphaela Folie and Egonu. Their advantage jumped to 23-20 after an impressive performance in defence by Beatrice Parrocchiale and a diagonal attack by Egonu, but the team struggled to finish two of their set points. After a single block of Barun on Caterina Bosetti at 24-23, Italy called a timeout. Egonu finished the set at 25-23 with yet another powerful hit. 

An ace serve by Barun gave Croatia a 2-1 lead in the second set, but the score was tied at 3-3 after an exchange of blocks between the two teams. The game continued point by point until Italy went 8-6 ahead at the first technical timeout. Bosetti spiked off the block to make it 11-8 and the advantage soon increased to 16-11 after a tip over the block by Egonu. Croatia came close to 17-16, but a spike by Egonu and a long hit by Barun allowed Italy to stay 19-16 ahead. Italy controlled the rest of the set and a spike by Bosetti finished it at 25-21. 

Croatia responded with a lead at the beginning of the third set when a ball jumped on the net ending as an ace serve by Cutuk, followed by a tip from Fabris, making it 7-3. Italy bounced back to 7-6, but Croatia remained ahead at the first technical timeout, 8-6. An ace serve by Beta Dumancic kept Croatia 11-9 ahead, but Chirichella and Egonu tied it at 11-11 with two powerful spikes. The second technical timeout arrived with 16-14 for Croatia after an ace serve by Cutuk and a spike by Barun. Three more points scored by Croatia with Ana Grbac troubling Italy from the service line moved the score to 19-14. The five-point lead was kept until 22-17 and Croatia had a first set point after a long spike by Bosetti at 24-18.  Fabris spiked from the back row, eventually taking the set for Croatia at 25-19. 

The fourth set opened with the same score and Croatia’s lead at 7-3. The four-point advantage was kept at the first technical timeout (8-4) and further extended to 11-5 after a block on Tirozzi and an ace serve by Fabris. Italy called a timeout when the scoreboard showed 14-6 for Croatia. A block on Egonu increased the gap to 16-6 at the second technical timeout. Croatia’s streak was eventually broken at 18-7, but another series moved the score from 19-8 to 24-8. Two spikes by Egonu gave Italy a 9th and 10th point, but a long serve by Sara Loda sealed a Croatian set win at 25-10. 

Barun and Egonu exchanged strong hits for 1-1 in the tie-break, but Egonu’s good performance put Italy 4-1 ahead soon after. Their lead melted slightly, but Tirozzi kept it at 6-4 with a tip over the block. The side switch came at 8-5 for Italy after an ace serve by Chirichella and Egonu followed with an overkill for 10-6, forcing Croatia to call a timeout. Barun gave Croatia their 7th point with a spike, but a double block on Matea Ikic kept Italy with a four-point lead (11-7). A timeout called by Italy slowed down Croatia who had closed in at 11-9. Egonu spiked for 12-9 and a first match point came after a long attack by Grbac at 14-9. Italy failed to cash their first two match points, but an attack by Tirozzi finished it all off in the next action, 15-11.

Quotes 

Italy outside-spiker, Caterina Bosetti: “We are glad we have three days to prepare for the quarterfinals. We have to improve our level during that time, as we are making a lot of mistakes at the moment. We have to improve our service as we haven’t shown our usual level in this element so far. If we improve it, then everything will follow.”

Croatia coach, Igor Lovrinov: “I would like to ask CEV to reject my proposal in regards to shortening matches to only two sets. I am really satisfied with the performance that we showed this evening. We are looking forward to the next round and I believe we will be playing The Netherlands on Tuesday. When it comes to focusing and specific elements ahead of facing the next opponent it is always about the same thing - serving and reception. If we can perform well in those particular elements, then we have good chances. We showed that today against Italy. The moment we stabilised our reception, we had a good attack. And we have a couple of players with good attack, so we have our chances against The Netherlands.”

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