Arnhem, Netherlands, April 6, 2017. After Italy secured their top spot in Pool I and a ticket to the semi-finals at the 2017 CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship – Women, it was Russia that followed them in the quest for the medals with a victory over Turkey, this celebrating their third consecutive hurrah in the tournament. The day started with a shocking defeat for Bulgaria, who had led the way in the group until the rest day on Tuesday but now have to pack their bags and travel home. The Netherlands completed the programme of the day losing to Italy 1-3 and will play - together with Germany - the classification matches 5-8.
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The semis will be held on Saturday with Italy versus Serbia (15:45 CEST) and a Belarusian team that will play against Russia later in the evening at 18:15 CEST. All matches will be streamed live and for free on LAOLA1.TV as well as on Facebook @CEVEuroVolley.
Germany vs. Bulgaria
Germany survived the preliminary round beating Bulgaria in straight sets 25-23, 28-26, 25-22 to send home the Bulgarian girls, who had won their first two matches at the European Championship. The team of coach Jens Tietböhl have now the chance to book a ticket for the World Championship 2017, which will be held in Argentina. Both contenders were supposed to perform their best to stay alive in the tournament. It was Germany that had the better start with outside spiker Emma Cyris who played one of her best matches in Arnhem. She recorded 14 points and scored 44% of her attempts. Bulgaria again offered a lot of problems in the reception, which resulted in a low success rate in attack (28%). Even in the third set, when the Bulgarian squad led 24-19, they still ended up losing 26-28. It was the neck-breaker for Bulgaria in this match. They never handled this shock and had to accept their third consecutive loss.
German assistant coach Martin Frydnes looked forward: “We are very satisfied that we are among the best four teams in this group. We will play against Poland and know the team very well from the friendly games we had before the European Championship.’’
German 2nd assistant coach Christian Lotsch was happy: “The girls had so much pressure today and were absolutely great in reception. It was our level that we showed already in the game against the Netherlands.’’
Josepha Bock, German middle blocker smiled and said: “We were louder and fought for every point. Especially our block-defence system was great today. Bulgaria had not the nerves to come back after our big win in the second set. It was real fun to play this game today.”
Bulgarian coach Strahil Balov was disappointed: “I am very disappointed and sad. Again we had not the right spirit and motivation to win the match. We had a big psychological barrier after the rest day. Actually, I don’t know why. We started this tournament so well and achieved a great win against Turkey. I don’t understand why we lost our emotion after it, normally it should be the initial ignition for another few great games.’’
Turkey vs. Russia
2015 U18 European champions Russia lived up to their reputation and edged Turkey 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 25-15) to make it to the semi-finals of the 2017 CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship – Women scheduled for Saturday afternoon. It was the last chance for Turkey to continue their adventure in the tournament after they had lost the last three matches, but a bravely fighting team could claim just one set against the Russian girls who earned the third win in a row after the rest day. Their great fighting spirit was noticeable in every rally of the game, where the German girls, who needed a Russian win to stay alive in the competition, supported them. The outstanding dominance of Russia’s block allowed them to produce some mistakes in reception and attack without too much of a consequence. They had the clear advantage at the net and scored nine blocks more than Turkey (14-5). Best players of the game were Russia’s outside-spiker Valeriya Shevchuk (22 points) and her teammate and opposite Tatiana Kadochkina (16 points).
Turkey coach Onur Çarıkçı didn’t expect this result in the preliminary round: “We did not expect that we would end the tournament like this and we are just sad now. We always had a chance, but couldn’t use it. That was a bad experience for all of us.’’
Italy vs. The Netherlands
Italy confirmed its number one status in Pool I by signing a 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-20) victory against The Netherlands in the last match of the day. It was another great show delivered by the Italian girls who are still undefeated at the European Championship. Even though it initially looked like the hosts had found a way to stop the strong Italian offence, there was still a well working block-defence system that offered them the opportunity to come back. Italy increased the level of their performance from set to set and closed it with an outstanding offensive rate of 47% to celebrate their fifth win in Arnhem. Italian opposite Terry Ruth Enweonwu was the shining star of the game, scoring 21 points for her team. Dutch outside spiker Lisa Nobel was the most prolific player of her team with 16 points.
Dutch coach Julien Van de Vyver said: “My players have to understand that they are good enough to beat a top team like Italy. We showed that in the first set today, but after that we lost confidence. This is a step we’re hoping to make this year. Now it’s really important that we will qualify for the World Championship. I am confident we will get there.”
Italy coach Luca Cristofani said: ‘’It was difficult to play in front of the home crowd. The Netherlands gave everything to reach the semi-final. However, I’m satisfied with the victory and our performance in the preliminary round. It will be a difficult game against Serbia.’’
