Slovenia defeats Russia in outstanding way to reach EuroVolley semifinals

CEV EuroVolley 2019 co-hosts Slovenia pulled the surprise of the tournament, knocking off defending champions and favourites Russia in the quarterfinals on Monday evening. An awesome home crowd of 11.225 enthusiastic spectators in Ljubljana’s Stožice Arena saw the 2015 European Championship silver medallists celebrating an impressive 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21) victory.

PHOTO © CEV

PHOTO © CEV

Both teams faced each other already in the group stage, the title-holders cruised to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21) sweep on September 18. Slovenia had not even won a single set against Russia at European Championships until this Monday!

“It’s crazy. I was dreaming about this and I knew one day it will happen. We have the best fans in the world. I cannot describe my feelings. We left our hearts on the court, we did everything to win. We are going for the gold”, Slovenia’s middle-blocker Jan Kozamernik underlined his side’s tournament ambitions after moving on into the semifinals.

MEVZA member Slovenia will face Poland in Ljubljana on Thursday. The world champions have won all of their six matches in this year’s EuroVolley edition. This Monday evening Germany, 2017 silver-medallists, did not stand a chance against Poland, suffering a clear 0-3 (19-25, 21-25, 18-25) defeat in Apeldoorn.

Historic CEV EuroVolley 2019

The 2019 EuroVolley edition is running from September 12 to 29 in four countries for the first time, namely France (Montpellier, Nantes and Paris), Slovenia (Ljubljana), the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Apeldoorn) and Belgium (Brussels and Antwerp). The number of participating teams has increased from 16 to 24. Each country hostes 15 pool matches, two eighth-finals and a quarter-final, while Slovenia will also have one semi-final. The second semi-final, the bronze and gold medal matches will take place at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris.

MEVZA League opening weekend not far away

While Europe’s best national teams are aiming for honours at the European Championship, Volleyball fans can already look forward to an exciting edition of the MEVZA League, that will feature eight men’s and seven women’s elite teams representing four countries. The men’s kick-off will be taking place on October 4-7 while the women’s season opener is due to follow a week later, October 11-13.

CEV EuroVolley Men 2019

Quarterfinals

23.09.: Slovenia (MEVZA) vs. Russia 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21)
23.09.: Poland vs. Germany 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-18)
24.09.: Serbia vs. Ukraine 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 19-25, 15-9)
24.09.: France vs. Italy 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-14)