2018 Women’s European Volleyball League: On to the Final Round

2018 WOMEN’S EUROPEAN VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE

• May 19th-June 20th, 2018
• European Volleyball League Homepage

Things are moving on to the Final Round at the Women’s European Volleyball League after pool play wrapped up today. That sends four teams to the semifinals to compete for the tournament victory. Those teams that made it along with pool results can be seen below.

FORMAT:

In the 15th edition of the Women’s European Volleyball League, the tournament is split into two divisions: a 12-team Golden League and an eight-team Silver League. All teams are split into four-team pools for their division. In the Golden League, all three pool winner plus Hungary (or the team in second if they win their pool), the Final Round host, advance. In the Silver League, the winner of each pool, the next best team and host-Sweden will advance to the last four.

Overall, this event acts as a qualifier for two teams to the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Challenger Cup, which provides an opportunity to make the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League.

THE FINAL ROUND:

Golden League:

#1 Czech Republic, #2 Bulgaria, #3 Finland, #4 Hungary

Silver League:

#1 Austria, #2 Estonia, #3 Albania, #4 Sweden

RESULTS:

Golden League

POOL A

Both Bulgaria and Azerbaijan earned victories on the last day of action, and both in sweep form. The only chance that Azerbaijan would have garnered the edge was with a 3-0/3-1 victory and a Bulgarian loss/3-2 victory. Adding on to the unfortunate circumstance for Azerbaijan, who posted one of the top three records in pool play, is that they won’t be in the Final Four. That is because hosting nation Hungary didn’t win their pool and is taking up the fourth spot behind the trio of Pool victors.

Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team		W	L	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Bulgaria	15	5	1	16	5	3.200	513	436	1.177
2	Azerbaijan	15	5	1	16	7	2.286	549	492	1.116
3	Ukraine	2	4	6	8	13	0.615	483	491	0.984
4	Portugal	0	6	0	3	18	0.167	397	523	0.759

Schedule:

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
19 May	17:00	Bulgaria	3–0	Portugal	25–13	25–18	25–19			75–50	Report
19 May	18:00	Azerbaijan	3–1	Ukraine	16–25	25–19	25–23	28–26		94–93	Report
23 May	18:00	Azerbaijan	3–1	Portugal	24–26	25–17	25–14	25–17		99–74	Report
23 May	18:30	Bulgaria	3–1	Ukraine	32–34	25–10	25–22	25–21		107–87	Report
26 May	17:00	Bulgaria	3–1	Azerbaijan	17–25	25–17	25–14	25–21		92–77	Report
27 May	17:00	Portugal	0–3	Ukraine	22–25	14–25	13–25			49–75	Report
30 May	17:00	Ukraine	3–1	Portugal	25–19	21–25	25–22	25–20		96–86	Report
30 May	18:00	Azerbaijan	3–1	Bulgaria	25–20	23–25	25–21	25–21		98–87	Report
2 Jun	18:00	Ukraine	0–3	Bulgaria	18–25	20–25	22–25			60–75	Report
2 Jun	15:00	Portugal	1–3	Azerbaijan	25–25	28–26	11–25	15–25		79–101	Report
6 Jun	17:00	Ukraine	0–3	Azerbaijan	28–30	21–25	23–25			72–80	Report
6 Jun	16:00	Portugal	0–3	Bulgaria	17–25	22–25	25–27			64–77	Report

POOL B

Hungary had already secured a spot in the Final Four as hosts, but still almost spoiled Finland’s chances of making it in. Instead, Finland’s loss came in five, giving them the one point they needed to secure Pool B and punch a trip to the next round. Had they lost in three or four sets, they would have finished second in the pool and the bid that Hungary would have taken over would have slid on to Azerbaijan.

Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team		W	L	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Finland	13	4	2	14	9	1.556	533	471	1.132
2	Hungary	12	4	2	15	9	1.667	536	508	1.055
3	Croatia	8	3	3	12	12	1.000	529	549	0.964
4	France	3	1	5	5	16	0.313	432	502	0.861

Schedule:

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
19 May	17:00	Croatia	3–0	Finland	25–21	26–24	25–19			76–64	Report
20 May	18:30	Hungary	3–0	France	25–16	25–19	25–20			75–55	Report
23 May	18:30	Hungary	3–1	Croatia	26–24	25–23	23–25	25–12		99–84	Report
23 May	18:30	Finland	3–0	France	25–18	25–13	25–21			75–52	Report
26 May	16:00	Finland	3–1	Hungary	25–19	23–25	25–16	25–19		98–79	Report
26 May	20:00	Croatia	3–1	France	25–19	25–21	18–25	27–25		95–90	Report
30 May	17:00	Finland	3–1	Croatia	25–18	24–26	25–15	25–19		99–78	Report
30 May	20:00	France	0–3	Hungary	23–25	18–25	19–25			60–75	Report
2 Jun	17:00	Croatia	3–2	Hungary	23–25	25–23	25–15	19–25	15–9	107–97	Report
2 Jun	20:00	France	1–3	Finland	14–25	25–18	14–25	22–25		75–93	Report
6 Jun	18:30	Hungary	3–2	Finland	25–20	25–27	21–25	25–21	15–11	111–104	Report
6 Jun	20:00	France	3–1	Croatia	25–18	27–25	23–25	25–21		100–89	Report

POOL C

Czech Republic completed their undefeated mark in pool play, serving as the only team in the Golden or Silver league to do so. The result didn’t always seem so sure, as the Czech side knew they had the pool already wrapped up, and eased along to a tight five-set victory. The lack of a top tier second place team may have helped in them going 6-0, but they will go into the Final Four as the favorite

Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team		W	L	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Czech Republic	17	6	0	18	3	6.000	493	411	1.200
2	Belarus	8	3	3	12	13	0.923	531	535	0.993
3	Slovakia	6	2	4	9	15	0.600	515	526	0.979
4	Spain	5	1	5	8	16	0.500	482	549	0.878

Schedule:

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
19 May	15:00	Slovakia	2–3	Belarus	24–26	25–18	24–26	25–21	8–15	106–106	Report
19 May	19:00	Spain	0–3	Czech Republic	23–25	21–25	12–25			56–75	Report
23 May	16:00	Belarus	3–0	Slovakia	25–23	25–19	25–20			75–62	Report
23 May	17:00	Czech Republic	3–0	Spain	25–20	25–16	25–21			75–57	Report
26 May	16:00	Belarus	1–3	Spain	21–25	25–11	23–25	16–25		85–86	Report
26 May	16:00	Czech Republic	3–0	Slovakia	25–17	25–20	25–19			75–56	Report
30 May	17:00	Slovakia	1–3	Czech Republic	25–16	16–25	23–25	18–25		82–91	Report
30 May	20:30	Spain	2–3	Belarus	23–25	25–21	22–25	25–19	9–15	104–105	Report
2 Jun	18:00	Czech Republic	3–0	Belarus	25–18	25–18	25–21			75–57	Report
2 Jun	19:00	Spain	1–3	Slovakia	21–25	17–25	25–20	27–29		90–99	Report
6 Jun	18:00	Belarus	2–3	Czech Republic	21–25	25–18	25–19	20–25	12–15	103–102	Report
6 Jun	18:00	Slovakia	3–2	Spain	25–17	22–25	23–25	25–16	15–6	110–89	Report

Silver League

POOL A

Estonia was able to hold their one-match lead on Sweden to round things out in Pool A, although it didn’t matter much as both teams were headed into the Final Four regardless. Still, now they get the weaker (albeit still 5-1) second-place team in Pool B for their final round matchup. Sweden meanwhile is the host of the event and although they will hold the worst record of the four teams, could get that extra boost to earn a pair of victories.

Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team		W	L	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Estonia	14	5	1	17	8	2.125	574	460	1.248
2	Sweden	13	4	2	16	8	2.000	534	462	1.156
3	Switzerland	3	3	9	12	11	1.091	481	480	1.002
4	Kosovo	0	6	0	0	18	0.000	263	450	0.584

Schedule:

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
19 May	19:00	Sweden	3–0	Switzerland	25–13	26–24	25–17			76–54	Report
20 May	19:00	Kosovo	0–3	Estonia	8–25	12–25	17–25			37–75	Report
23 May	17:00	Estonia	3–2	Switzerland	21–25	25–17	24–26	25–18	15–12	110–98	Report
23 May	20:00	Kosovo	0–3	Sweden	21–25	23–25	10–25			54–75	Report
26 May	17:00	Estonia	2–3	Sweden	25–17	25–18	33–35	20–25	7–15	110–110	Report
26 May	17:30	Switzerland	3–0	Kosovo	25–14	25–15	25–17			75–46	Report
30 May	17:00	Sweden	2–3	Estonia	25–20	18–25	25–21	25–27	6–15	99–108	Report
30 May	19:30	Kosovo	0–3	Switzerland	18–25	20–25	15–25			53–75	Report
2 Jun	16:00	Sweden	3–0	Kosovo	25–11	25–15	25–7			75–33	Report
3 Jun	16:30	Switzerland	1–3	Estonia	25–21	19–25	17–25	15–25		76–96	Report
6 Jun	17:00	Estonia	3–0	Kosovo	25–15	25–8	25–17			75–40	Report
6 Jun	19:30	Switzerland	3–2	Sweden	25–22	25–15	17–25	21–25	15–12	103–99	Report

POOL B

Austria and Albania had already locked in spots to the Final Four in the Silver League, but continued their strong play with victories over the bottom half of Pool B. Things were a bit more challenging for Austria in four sets, but they still wind up winning the Pool, meaning they will take one the Pool A runner-up as opposed to the Pool A winner, like Albania. It’s very possible these two could meet again though for the Silver League Championship and to settle the 1-1 tie.

Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team		W	L	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Austria	16	5	1	17	6	2.833	541	441	1.227
2	Albania	14	5	1	15	6	2.500	492	433	1.136
3	Israel	3	1	5	6	16	0.375	448	528	0.848
4	Georgia	3	1	5	5	15	0.333	387	483	0.801

Schedule:

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
19 May	15:00	Austria	3–1	Israel	25–21	25–12	20–25	25–15		95–73	Report
20 May	17:00	Georgia	0–3	Albania	16–25	18–25	22–25			56–75	Report
23 May	19:00	Israel	3–1	Georgia	25–21	23–25	25–20	25–16		98–82	Report
23 May	19:00	Albania	0–3	Austria	18–25	17–25	21–25			56–75	Report
26 May	17:00	Georgia	0–3	Austria	17–25	14–25	14–25			45–75	Report
26 May	19:00	Israel	0–3	Albania	18–25	16–25	14–25			48–75	Report
30 May	17:00	Albania	3–1	Israel	25–23	25–19	27–29	25–16		102–87	Report
30 May	17:45	Austria	3–1	Georgia	25–21	25–16	23–25	25–16		98–78	Report
2 Jun	17:45	Austria	2–3	Albania	25–21	25–22	19–25	16–25	11–15	96–108	Report
2 Jun	20:00	Georgia	3–0	Israel	25–21	25–18	25–22			75–61	Report
6 Jun	17:00	Albania	3–0	Georgia	25–14	25–13	26–24			76–51	Report
6 Jun	19:00	Israel	1–3	Austria	26–24	17–25	22–25	16–25		81–99	Report