04/09/2020 18:00
Latvia cement leadership, sensational victory for Cyprus in EuroVolley qualifier
CEV EuroVolley 2021
Nicosia, Cyprus, September 4, 2020. As action at the CEV EuroVolley 2021 Men qualifier resumed on Friday in Nicosia, Latvia were able to improve their win-loss record to 3-1 after storming to a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Moldova (25-22, 25-17, 25-22) to repeat the outcome of an earlier fixture played on Sunday between the same two teams. Therefore, Latvia have cemented their position at the top of the standing in Pool D and have their sights set on qualifying for the 2021 edition of EuroVolley due to take place in the late summer of 2021 in Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia and Finland.
Atvars Ozolins (pictured above, #17) once again top scored for the ‘Wolves’ with a personal tally of 15 points, matched by teammate Hermans Egleskalns and Moldova’s Mihai Voleanschii. Latvia are the only team with a 3-1 record in the pool after Spain’s surprising setback to Cyprus.
Later in the evening, Cyprus celebrated a sensational 3-0 victory over Spain (27-25, 25-22, 25-23), the very first time in Volleyball history a team from the Mediterranean island emerges victorious from a clash with one of Europe’s top Volleyball nations, with Spain being the 2007 European champions. Cyprus’ coach Jorge Cannestracci made two moves to surprise the Spaniards – with Avgoustinos Savvidis and Nicolaos Eleftheriou in the starting six. Eleftheriou eventually top scored with 17 points, but it was very much a team performance from the side of the hosts. After this historic victory, the appetite has grown for Cyprus and the hosts are hoping to be able to upset Moldova on Saturday as well.
“This is a dream victory and achievement and it shows that the level of Cyprus Volleyball has risen to such an extent that we can beat even such strong opponents as Spain,” said home star Sotiris Siapanis.
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