18/05/2014 17:26
Poland makes it three in a row, Ukraine routs Switzerland to claim second place
2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Women
Lugano, Switzerland, May 18, 2014. Poland women’s national team finished the tournament held this weekend at Resega ice hall in Lugano with a perfect record of three victories in as many matches to get the right edge for the second round coming up next week in the city of Bydgoszcz where fans will get to know who ultimately makes the Final Round of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women. On Sunday Poland easily routed Latvia in three straight sets (25-20, 25-6, 25-20) to end the tournament on a high note. The home heroines of Switzerland did not a stand a chance in their match with Ukraine which they lost in straight sets (13-25, 15-25, 9-25) to finish the weekend in third place.
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Poland vs. Latvia 3:0 (25-20, 25-6, 25-20)
After delivering a very bad performance in the first and second set, Latvia played more relaxed in the third and this helped the underdogs of this match change the course of the game, though only for a short while. Latvia moved up 8:3 at the first technical time-out but their lead was reduced down to only point at the second mandatory stop. After that break, Poland resumed the actions well motivated to finish the match in three sets, something that eventually turned into reality to cap a very good weekend for the team in red and white jerseys.
“We made a step forward on our way to the Final Round,” said Maja Tokarska commenting on the three victories claimed in Lugano. “However, next week when we play at home we must keep very focused and concentrated because Ukraine was close to surprise us yesterday and may do this again also in Bydgoszcz. Ukraine and also Switzerland have a good team, so the race for that ticket to the Final Round is still wide-open. This was a first test for this new group and I am satisfied especially with the match we played on Saturday with Ukraine,” she continues. “We were trailing 0:2 but we came back strong so I think that this group of players has the quality and determination to achieve good things in the future. We are young and share the same goal, which is to achieve excellent results in the next few years. We want to become a very competitive group, so beware because Poland is coming back strong.”
Ukraine vs. Switzerland 3:0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-9)
After Poland had claimed their third consecutive victory of the weekend, Ukraine and hosts Switzerland were set to play for second place in the Pool. Unfortunately the home heroines did never find their way into the game and lost in three quick sets. Iryna Trushkina top scored for Ukraine with 18 points, including six blocks and one ace. Though Swiss mentor Timo Lippuner tried to change the course of the game with some changes to his starting six, Ukraine was simply too much too stand for the home side and deservedly won the match in three sets.
“We would have been more satisfied if we had finished this first round atop the charts,” said Ukraine’s setter Olena Novgorodchenko summing up pros and cons of the weekend. “However, we want to look forward and I hope that next week in Poland we will be playing better than we did here so as to challenge the Polish team on their home ground. We all want to win because yesterday we missed out on a huge opportunity to make a step forward on the way to the Finals coming up next year in the Netherlands and Belgium.”
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