10/03/2021 13:00
Latvian girls look forward to international debut at #EuroVolleyU16W qualifier on home soil
News from the National Federations
Daugavpils, Latvia, March 10, 2021. On Thursday, the Latvian U16 women’s national team will start their journey in the EEVZA qualifier for this year’s European Championship in their age group. The event will be taking place in the city of Daugavpils, which is no stranger to hosting international Volleyball competitions. The local organisers and authorities have worked hard to deliver a safe environment for the eight participating teams in times of coronavirus pandemic, with strict protocols in place to guarantee everyone’s safety and well-being.
The Latvian national team had a two-week training camp in Daugavpils to prepare for the European qualifier, playing a friendly match with Georgia on Tuesday. “We have gone through the technical elements, tactical positions and other stuff, and together with my assistant Žanna Zaņegina we have done the maximum we could in this preparation stage,” head coach Ieva Ņečiporuka speaks of the readiness of the team. “We are more worried about the psychological readiness, because we miss not only regular training, but also game experience, and it is hard to anticipate how important games will affect each of the players.”
These will be the first official international matches for this young team. At the same time, the U17 Latvian men will take part in another EEVZA qualifier in Tbilisi, Georgia, but not in the strongest line-up, as two of their players have to deal with injuries.
The lack of spectators in Daugavpils may turn out to be a positive, so that the young girls can perform without any further pressure. Latvia shares the same group with Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, with the matches unfolding as per this order. Friendly matches with Lithuania took place last summer before Latvia played Georgia earlier this week in Daugavpils.
“If we play like we did in the first set with Georgia, we could defeat Lithuania but these are still children, who are playing in the main line-up for the first time, so they have extra pressure and stress. Under such situation, sometimes they do things they should not do and forget the instructions of the coach. We hope that Lithuania did also not have that many opportunities to train,” Ņečiporuka says, adding that defeating Lithuania is the main task. “At the moment, I cannot predict the outcome of this match, but in sports you always should strive for the best. You have to seek a solution to the current situation and take the maximum with the line-up that you have.”
Since last summer, Aleksandra Timbere has been the team captain, a position she has held since the matches with Lithuania. “We have a fantastic team. The girls are friendly and we have come closer to each other. We talk a lot in the changing room as to how we will play. We communicate a lot and help each other. After this training camp, we feel that we have a better chemistry and we rely on each other more,” says Aleksandra. “This is our main big task – to defeat Lithuania. We have realised how they will play and how to serve. Of course, the goal is to defeat all opponents, as well as to show what we have worked on during our training, to keep calm and not let stress affect our performance.” According to her coach, she is able to keep calm even in the most stressful situations; she does not let the other players lose their spirit and encourages or calms them down when necessary.
Live streaming of all matches involving the Latvian team will be available at www.grani.lv, chayka.lv, in the TV channel LRT+, as well as the portal Apollo.lv and the official Facebook page of the Latvian Volleyball Federation.
Click here for further information.
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