2018 WOMEN’S EUROPEAN VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE
- May 19th-June 20th, 2018
- European Volleyball League Homepage
The final two matches of the Golden League wrap up today, although the pair of bids to the 2018 FIVB Women’s Challenger Cup have already been locked in. In fact, the gold, silver and bronze have all been awarded in the Golden League as we move to the Silver League today, where teams can play their way into the Golden League for 2019.
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:
Silver League:
- Nykoping, Sweden | Rosvalla Nykoping Eventcenter
SWEDEN DEF. ALBANIA 3-0
- Sweden def. Albania 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-21)
- Sweden moves to the Finals at 5-2; Albania falls to the Third-Place match at 5-2
Playing in front of their home crowd, Sweden took down Albania to move on to the Silver League championship match tomorrow. Albania meanwhile will head to the Bronze medal match, where they look to end on a high note after being outscored 75-56.
Neither team got much working from their block and found some success with the serve, but the real difference was the attack as Sweden posted 51 kills on a 45% execution rate compared to 27 kills on a 29% success rate for Albania. Erblira Bici (18 points) did her best to avoid the woes, but didn’t have as much help around her as Sweden with the Haak sisters in Isabelle Haak (25 points) and Anna Haak (15 points).
AUSTRIA DEF. ESTONIA 3-1
- Austria def. Estonia 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-16)
- Austria moves to the Finals at 6-1; Estonia falls to the Third-Place match at 5-2
In the second semifinal with neither team playing to a home-court advantage, Austria defeated Estonia by pulling off three straight set victories. That sets up a meeting between the Austrians and Swedes in the Gold Medal match, while Estonia will try for Bronze against Albania.
Both teams struggled with errors as the match was not the cleanest or most offensively driven. Still, Austria ended up with 10 more kills on a 7% stronger execution rate. That was enough to overcome three Estonians in double-digits, led by Liis Kullerkann (14 points), as a trio of Austrians matched that rate and had Sma Markovic (19 points) and Katharina Holzer (18 points) lead the way in scoring.
SCHEDULE:
Semifinals
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Jun | 17:00 | Albania  |
0–3 |  Sweden |
14–25 | 21–25 | 21–25 | 56–75 | Report | ||
| 16 Jun | 20:00 | Austria  |
3–1 |  Estonia |
21–25 | 25–22 | 26–24 | 25–16 | 97–87 | Report |
3rd place match
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Jun | 16:00 | Albania |
– | Estonia |
– | – | – | 0–0 | Report |
Final
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Jun | 19:00 | Sweden |
– | Austria |
– | – | – | 0–0 | Report |
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