Warsaw, Poland, May 28, 2017. The silver medallists from the Rio 2016 Olympics – Serbia – are the first European team to secure a ticket to next year’s FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship in Japan. They did so by completing a clean sweep of their matches in Pool B where they did not drop a set in five games, finally routing also hosts Poland on Sunday. The Czech Republic settled for second place, thus keeping alive their chances of boarding a plane to Japan next year – and the Czechs will be trying to achieve this goal when contesting the third and final stage of European qualifications in mid-August.
Iceland vs. Slovakia
The match between Iceland and Slovakia brought no surprises. Marek Rojko’s team shined with a 63% spiking efficiency against their opponents, who managed to attack successfully only once every three attempts. The Icelandic team can be commended for their better performance at blocking, compared to Saturday’s match with Cyprus. This, however, could not have any major impact on the final result, especially when Slovakia kept bombarding their opponents from the service line (15 aces), saying good-bye to Warsaw with a comprehensive 3-0 victory (25-11, 25-21, 25-11).
“For us it was an important tournament to practice as a team and gain more experience in the game. Facing a stronger rival is always a great opportunity to improve your skills and be better prepared for the next competition,” said Iceland Frida Sigurdardottir.
Czech Republic vs. Cyprus
The Czech Republic’s 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-15) win against Cyprus cemented their second place in the tournament, with a chance for a World Championship berth in the last qualification round. Fuelled by this kind of motivation, the Czech players were dominant in the scorecards on spiking, while Cyprus gave away too many points (10 in the second set) to be able to pose a threat to their opponent. The third and last set only confirmed the Czech Republic’s dominance on the court, with a great performance and the final point scored by Katerina Kohoutova.
“This was a good tournament for our team. Our goal for Warsaw was to take up the second place. Winning over Poland was the biggest milestone and we did it! I am happy and excited to wait for the outcome of the last match between Poland and Serbia,” said Veronika Dostalova, libero of the Czech Republic.
Serbia vs. Poland
The first set of Poland vs. Serbia showed the difference in quality between these two teams. The Olympic vice-champions were aware of their own strength and capabilities, while the hosts seemed to still have the painful loss against the Czech Republic in their heads. Zoran Terzic’s players dominated on court from the very beginning (8-2) and their superb reception allowed them to lead the game as they pleased. Two sets (25-15, 25-16) were enough to confirm Serbia’s first place in the tournament, the third one (25-15) was a formality, giving the team a flawless 3-0 record in all of their Warsaw matches.
“It is an amazing feeling to win all the matches without losing even a set. It is a great beginning of the season for our national team. It will be quite tough and full of challenging goals. I am happy about the team result and the individual awards do confirm that my performance and development as a player go in the right direction,” said Serbia star player Tijana Bošković.
The organisers of the tournament awarded the best players / Dream Team of the competition as follows:
Outside hitter: Brankica MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Outside hitter: Michaela MLEJNKOVA (CZE)
Middle blocker: Stefana VELJKOVIĆ (SRB)
Middle blocker: Agnieszka KĄKOLEWSKA (POL)
Libero: Silvija POPOVIĆ (SRB)
Setter: Bojana ZIVKOVIĆ (SRB)
Opposite hitter: Tijana BOŠKOVIĆ (SRB)
MVP: Tijana BOŠKOVIĆ (SRB)
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the matches