Austria to take on Bosnia & Herzegovina for Silver League gold

Austria and Bosnia & Herzegovina will play in the final of CEV Volleyball European Silver League 2021 – Women on Saturday in Maribor, after defeating Portugal and hosts Slovenia, respectively, in Friday’s semifinals.

Semifinal
PORTUGAL vs AUSTRIA
2-3 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 6-15)

Portugal’s Marta Hurst scored seven times in the first set, but that did not suffice for winning the set, as the abundant unforced errors on her team’s side helped Austria stay afloat. It was an even battle, in which Portugal recovered from the four-point deficit they had at 16-20 to draw level at 21-21 and prompt an exciting epilogue. Jasmin Haslinger put the ball away to finish off a spectacular super rally and give Austria a 23-22 lead. At set point, she blocked a Portuguese attack to prompt yet another opponent error and close the set at 25-23. Halfway through the second set, Portugal’s outside hitter Margarida Maia got injured while landing after an attack and had to be replaced. The score took swings from three points in favour of Portugal to three points in favour of Austria. The unforced errors were distributed evenly between the two sides, but the crucial one gave the Portuguese a 25-23 win to level the match.

Stepping up their spiking efforts with Marta Hurst and Maria Lopes leading the way, Portugal broke away with a 21-14 lead. They seemed to be cruising to a speedy wrap-up, but Austria fought back. Sub-in Anamarija Galic dominated over the net to help her team narrow it down to just one at 23-22, but finally Hurst hammered the 25-22 winner. The fourth set was very competitive through 19-19, before Austria went on a 6-1 run to close it off at 25-20 on an ace by Monika Chrtianska. After 5-3 Portugal’s way in the tie-breaker, Austria scored nine points in a row. Haslinger aced to deliver the match point and then set to Aida Mehic for a first-tempo attack to score the 15-6 winner.

Portugal’s Marta Hurst was the best scorer of the match with 20 points. Aida Mehic produced 16 for the winning side.

“That injury of Margarida Maia happened at the wrong time and, of course, it affected us. But we still believed that we were able to win. In the third set, we made too many mistakes in serving and our attack was not so efficient anymore. The Austrians took advantage of this and won.”

Maria Lopes
Opposite of Portugal

“We are so happy with this win and the position to fight for the title. We believed we could win, but it still feels amazing. I am surprised that I scored the most points in my team in the first set; it seemed that my teammates were setting the ball for me, and so I also got a chance to score some points in attack. I do not know what the main reason that we managed to stage a comeback after being one set behind was, but we made it.”

Jasmin Haslinger
Setter of Austria

“After the third set, I made a few changes and we played really well, especially in the tie-breaker. We will recover now and be ready for tomorrow. This victory gives us additional energy. It will of course be nice if the fans come here again tomorrow to support us in the hall.”

Jan De Brandt
Head coach of Austria

Semifinal
SLOVENIA vs BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
1-3 (23-25, 25-19, 22-25, 24-26)

In a very tight first set, the only moment the gap went as wide as three points was at 22-19 Bosnia & Herzegovina’s way. With each of the two sides scoring exactly the same number of points by serving, by blocking and in attack, what made the difference in the set were the unforced errors. Slovenia committed two more of those than their opponents, one of them being the net touch that fixed the final 25-23 in favour of Bosnia & Herzegovina. Riding on the momentum, Bosnia & Herzegovina stormed into the second set on a 4-0 run, but the home side reacted immediately with five in a row to take a 5-4 lead. Another five in a row brought them up to 19-13, after which they kept the pace to a 25-19 win, shaped up by Darja Erzen with a successful hit.

In the third set, the lead went back and forth several times, while the gap never exceeded three points. After 22-20 Slovenia’s way, Bosnia & Herzegovina took advantage mainly of unforced opponent errors to score five consecutive points with Milana Bozic behind the serving line and win the set by 25-22. The fourth set was very competitive through 12-12, after which Bosnia & Herzegovina began edging forward, mainly because of their better spiking. Slovenia, however, managed to deny a triple match point and level it at 24-24. In the overtime, however, the Bosnians reached another match point, which Edina Begic converted to a 26-24 victory.

Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Dajana Boskovic scored the match high of 19 points.

“In the first set, we did not deliver our best performance. In the second one, we managed to win and we saw that we can play against them. We fought hard until the end of the match. Also in the fourth set, we did not give up till the last point. We were a little bit short at the end, but I am still very proud of the team.”

Brina Bracko
Setter of Slovenia

“I think we opened the match very well. However, our performance in the second set was not on the same level. We lost our focus, both in serving and in reception. Later, we regained our focus and managed to win.”

Dajana Boskovic
Opposite of Bosnia & Herzegovina

News:
CEV – European Volleyball
OZS – Volleyball Slovenia
ÖVV – Volleyball Austria