EuroVolley: MEVZA members Slovenia and Czech Republic advance to round of 16

CEV EuroVolley 2019 Men co-hosts Slovenia, cheered on by 10,731 passionate fans in Stozice Arena, suffered a 0-3 (21-25, 21-25, 21-25) loss against the still unbeaten defending champions of Russia in the last round of Pool play. Regardless of the result, head coach Alberto Giuliani’s squad finished second in Group C and will face Bulgaria in the eighth final in Ljubljana on Saturday.

Slovakia missed the elimination round of 16, despite a 2-3 win-loss record. On Thursday the EuroVolley 2017 silver-medallists Germany were defeated by Spain in Antwerp in four sets (22-25, 20-25, 25-18, 19-25). In consequence, the Slovakians moved down one place to fifth in Pool B.

The Austrian men’s national side didn’t manage to win a match and ended up in sixth place. This Thursday evening co-favourites Serbia cruised to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-20) win over Peter Wohlfahrtstätter und his team mates. Austria made it to the final round of the European Championship for the first time through qualification after co-hosting the event in 2011 together with Czech Republic.

The Czech side secured their eighth-final spot, although they accepted a tight 2-3 (23-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-21, 13-15) loss at the hands of Montenegro. Jan Hadrava and co. will be in action again Friday, when they play Serbia in Antwerp.

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 hosts 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.

Final Standings (group stage)

Pool A

1. FRANCE 15 points
2. ITALY 12
3. BULGARIA 9
4. GREECE 3
5. PORTUGAL 3
6. ROMANIA 3

Pool B

1. SERBIA 15
2. BELGIUM 11
3. GERMANY 7
4. SPAIN 6
5. SLOVAKIA (MEVZA) 5
6. AUSTRIA (MEVZA) 1

Pool C

1. RUSSIA 15
2. SLOVENIA (MEVZA) 9
3. TURKEY 7
4. FINLAND 6
5. NORTH MACEDONIA 6
6. BELARUS 2

Pool C

1. POLAND 15
2. THE NETHERLANDS 10
3. UKRAINE 9
4. CZECH REPUBLIC (MEVZA) 6
5. MONTENEGRO 5
6. ESTONIA 0

Eight Final Matches

21.09., 19.30: France vs. Finland (Nantes/FRA)
22.09., 17.00: Italy vs. Turkey (Nantes/FRA)

21.09., 17.30: Russia vs. Greece (Ljubljana/SLO)
21.09., 20.30: Slovenia vs. Bulgaria (Ljubljana/SLO)

21.09., 17.30: Serbia vs. Czech Republic (Antwerp/BEL)
21.09., 20.30: Belgium vs. Ukraine (Antwerp/BEL)

21.09., 16.00: The Netherlands vs. Germany (Appeldoorn/NED)
21.09., 20.00: Poland vs. Spain (Appeldoorn/NED)

Match Schedule, Results, Pool Standings

FOTO © CEV

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