12/01/2020 21:36
Montenegro, Israel advance to WU19 2nd Round
CEV U19 Women / U20 Men Volleyball European Championship 2020
Luxembourg, January 12, 2020. Montenegro and Israel finished 1-2 in the sole 1st Round pool of the 2020 Women's U19 European Championship to receive the two tickets for the 2nd Round of the competition, while Switzerland became the third team to advance to the 2nd Round of the Men's U20 European Championship, after the weekend's action.
Women's U19
Montenegro came back from a set down to finish undefeated in the 1st Round of the Women's U19 European Championship with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-12) win over Sweden at home in Herceg Novi.
The matter of qualification was settled after Montenegro won their second set and Sweden had crashed out, allowing the two coaches to bring on their subs and give everyone a chance to play.
Montenegro's Ema Uskokovic was top scorer of the game with 16 points, just one more than teammate Majda Cakar. Cecilia Malm scored 14 and Hilda Gustafsson added 13 for Sweden.
Previously in Herceg Novi, Israel had dispatched Kosovo 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-16) - but had to wait a bit until it was confirmed that they had actually qualified after the second match of the day.
The match high scorer Tali Hakas bagged 13 points (including 5 aces) and Shirel Ganah added another 10 for Isarel - the only players in the match to go into double digits, as Kosovo struggled to cope with the Israeli serving, conceding a total of 13 aces (to 3).
The winners of the Herceg Novi tournament advance to join Serbia, Belgium and Hungary in Pool B of the 2nd Round; the runners-up will play against Italy, the Netherlands and Slovenia in Pool A of the 2nd Round in late April / early May.
The finals of the Women's U19 European Championship are jointly hosted by Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia, 22-30 August.
Switzerland celebrate their win over Kosovo which secures them a berth in the 2nd Round of the 2020 MU20 European Championship.
Men's U20
Switzerland grabbed the last ticket to the 2nd Round of the Men's U20 European Championship after shutting out Kosovo 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-13) in Prishtine.
Switzerland get their berth in the 2nd Round as the better of the runners-up of the two 1st Round pools on a 1.3 set average (4-3) to Croatia's 1.0 (4-4).
Alexander Lengweiler was again Switzerland's top scorer with a match high of 13 points, as the visitors overwhelmed Kosovo from the service line with 11 aces to 1 and dominated the game overall.
Cyprus and Estonia had already qualified earlier in the weekend after topping their respective pools. Cyprus will now play in 2nd Round Pool C against Serbia, Belarus and Finland; Estonia go to Pool B to face Italy, Ukraine and Bulgaria; and Switzerland are placed in Pool A alongside Russia, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The 2nd Round of the competition will be held in seven pools across Europe in late April / early May.
The finals of the 2020 Men's U20 European Championship are in Brno, 28 August to 5 September.
Click here for further information on the CEV U20M Volleyball European Championship 2020 and the CEV U19W Volleyball European Championship 2020.
WU19: Kosovo vs Israel 0-3 (12-25, 19-25, 16-25)
"I think it was a good game. We did simple things efficiently. We won, but I hope we are qualified."
Mika Rome, Israel setter
"It wasn't our day today, but we are a new country in volleyball and this was a great experience. Now we have to work hard for the next competition."
Finesa Sylejmani, Kosovo outside hitter
WU19: Sweden vs Montenegro 1-3 (25-18, 16-25, 17-25, 12-25)
"It was a good game and I think we did a very good job. It was a very good competition for us."
Cecilia Malm, Sweden setter
"I would like to congratulate my teammates. We managed to win the match after dropping the first set and recovering in the second. I am happy because we finished first at this tournament and now we can prepare for the second round in Belgrade."
Marija Tusevljak, Montenegro outside hitter
MU20: Switzerland vs Kosovo 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-13)
"It was a great game. I wasn't happy about last night's performance against Estonia, but on the ther hand I'm happy at how the team reacted against Kosovo. We are progressing to the next round and we already know that it will be another challenge for our team, but we will do the best we can."
Marco Fölmli, Switzerland head coach
"I was very well surprised with the atmosphere and warm welcome we received in Prishtine. It wasn't an easy game but we played very well and here we are with a deserved win. Being qualified to the second round is another task for us but we will do our best to win sets and why not games."
Alexander Lengweiler, Switzerland opposite
"We entered this match with plans to win and to show a better progress in our game. Things didn't start as we wanted, as we didn't manage to win more than 8 points in the first set. We were unlucky with some players who had to withdraw due to health reasons and this has affected our rhythm of the game."
Ramadan Parduzi, Kosovo head coach
"We lost two games but even though we haven’t managed to win a set or a game, we have shown some progress. We are missing some players but generally this kind of tournament and level helps us to progress a lot."
Arbrik Zeka, Kosovo outside hitter
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