30/09/2020 21:00
Montenegro eager to play home #EuroVolleyU17W
CEV U17 Volleyball European Championship 2020
Podgorica, Montenegro, September 30, 2020. Head coach Zlatko Cacic announced on Wednesday the final list of 12 players due to represent hosts Montenegro at the 2020 edition of #EuroVolleyU17W – which is due to get underway on Thursday in Podgorica. Montenegro feature in Pool I together with the national teams of Italy, Slovenia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Slovakia. Belarus, Poland, Romania, Russia and Serbia will contest the Pool II matches. This is only the second time Montenegro is hosting the final stage of a European Championship – after co-hosting the 2013 edition of the U18 women’s tournament together with Serbia. Live broadcasting of all matches will be available on the official channels of Sport Klub.
Team Montenegro will consist of the following players:
Setters: Stasa Krivokapic (Galeb) and Andrea Krgovic (Jedinstvo Franca)
Outside / opposite hitters: Tijana Milacic (Moraca), Natalija Vlaovic (Galeb), Anja Popovic (Academy), Sanja Rudan (Moraca), Majda Cakar (Rudar) and Teodora Leovac (Rudar)
Middle blockers: Masa Dragojevic (Galeb), Nadja Popovic (Moraca) and Jana Cetkovic (Buducnost),
Libero: Anastasija Smolovic (Luka Bar)
The staff includes assistant coaches Ivica Scekic and Sonja Banicevic, team manager Predrag Djonovic and physiotherapist Vladimir Dragojevic.
Team Montenegro head coach Cacic acknowledges a difficult task lies ahead for his young team
Coach Cacic said that a difficult task awaits his players, stating that every set won at the European Championship will be a success. “It is a great honour for our team to participate in such an elite competition. I hope that we will offer strong resistance, especially when playing against Slovakia and Bulgaria. I hope that the girls will enjoy the experience,” he said.
Captain Tijana Milacic said that the team would do its best to justify the expectations of the professional staff, the Federation and the fans. “We will do our best to achieve the best possible result and place in the final standing. We have a difficult pool and high-quality rivals. I would start with Turkey, which plays the finals of all major competitions. There are also Italy and Slovenia. I believe that we can play at equal level with Slovakia and Bulgaria,” Milacic said.
Team captain Tijana Milacic promises Montenegro will fight for the best possible result while playing at home
The matches will be taking place at the Verde Sports Centre and the Sports and Cultural Centre of the University of Montenegro. The championship will get underway with the match between Bulgaria and Turkey, starting at 15:00, at the Verde complex. Montenegro will play Slovakia at 20:00 in the same hall after the match between Italy and Slovenia starting at 17:30.
In Pool II, Belarus play Romania (17:30) and Russia will take on Poland (20). Serbia have a free day following the withdrawal of Germany from the event.
Until the end of the first phase of the competition, the Montenegrin national team will face Bulgaria (October 2), Slovenia (October 3), Italy (October 5) and Turkey (October 6).
The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals, while the third and fourth-placed will play the classification matches 5-8.
No spectators will be able to follow the matches from the stands of the two arenas due to restrictions in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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