Croatia and defending champs Czechia with big wins at the Golden #EuroLeagueW

The 2019 Golden #EuroLeagueW titleholders from the Czech Republic continue on outperforming their opponents in Pool C as on Wednesday they seized a straight-sets victory over the team of Hungary who two years ago finished in the fifth place of the competition. 

With four victories out of four matches, Czechia currently top the charts in the Pool, having recorded 12 points so far.

„Today, it was not our best match, the girls were tired. After all, this is our fourth match in five days. I’m glad that my players managed to win this match because the Hungarians didn’t play badly at all. I’m glad we’re one step closer to the Final Four again.“

Giannis Athanasopoulos
Head coach of Czech Republic

– The first set was a point-for-a-point race. Only after the 20th point were the Czech girls able to take the lead after coming back as Hungary were leading at 20-17. With Andrea Kossanyiova on the serve, the Czech players felt more secure and were able to deliver some good performances on the attack. 
– Both teams showed equal skills on the attack in the next set, but with 3 blocks and 1 aces, the Czech Republic got closer to the victory.
– Continuing with the good performance on the net, Orvosova and her teammates congratulated themselves at the end of the match.

„I am satisfied with our performance today, we showed a different level than in our first match, but the Czech players confirmed that they are a better team. Congratulations to them, we are going to prepare for the next duel.”

Jakub Gluszak
Head coach of Hungary

Earlier that day, Belarus and Croatia locked horns to determine who will take the second place in the current standings in Pool C. In a great match, that lasted 112 minutes and brought the emotion of a five-setter, Croatia found the right way to emerge victorious and claim a 3-2 victory.

The players coached by the Italian Daniele Santarelli, who only a month ago was crowned with his club A. Carraro Imoco Volley Conegliano #CLVolleyW champion, could have closed the match in four sets but losing five match points, had to resist in a tie-break, where four kill blocks became the key to the final success. 

Croatia’s star, Samanta Fabris topped the charts in the match, recording 25 points to her name while her teammate Beta Dumancic contributed with 19. For Belarus, it was Darya Vakulka who scored 18 times. Collecting two points from the clash, Croatia are now on second place in the group, with 6 points. 

„It was a very bad match from us today. We have improved our game but today it seemed that we had lost a track of it. We need to practice more. Maybe we are tired because of so many matches.”

Daniele SANTARELLI
Head coach of Croatia

– Croatia took easily the lead in the first set, but Belarus weren’t giving up until the last minute. However, 3 kill blocks and good performance by Dumancic and Fabris (6 points each in this part) helped the girls of Santarelli open the match. 
– Convinced that they can show a better performance, Belarus entered motivated in the second set becoming this a point-for-a-point race. Yuliya Miniuk was shining in these moments (50% excellence in attack), and with 5 blocks, Belarus could open.
– Croatia responded immediately, and pushing hard on the attack, took again the lead. In the next part, Belarus managed to come back, saving 5 match points thanks to good performance on the serve and attack by Vakulka. 
– In the tie – break, however, it was Croatia who were more precise and congratulated themselves with the victory.

„I think it was a good game for us. We didn’t have our best player, but we tried to put some pressure on Croatia’s team and we managed to do so. Congratulations to Croatia.”

Yuliya MINIUK
Middle blocker of Belarus

News:
CEV – European Volleyball
CVF – Czech Volleyball
HOS – Croatian Volleyball