Cyprus, Iceland Will Vie For CEV Small Countries Title Sunday

  0 Wendy Mayer | June 24th, 2017 | European volleyball, International Volleyball, News

CEV European Championship Small Countries Division

Day 2 of the Small Countries Championship brought doubleheaders for Scotland, Iceland and Luxembourg and saw mixed results, muddying the standings.

Iceland went 2-0 on the day, topping Faroe Islands and Luxembourg to move to 2-1 on the tournament. Luxembourg also moved to 2-1 on the weekend with the loss and a sweep of Scotland. Cyprus, which played two matches on Friday, won its lone contest of the day, topping Scotland to sit atop the standings at 2-1.

Cyprus 2-1

Iceland 2-1

Luxembourg 2-1

Scotland 1-2

Faroe Islands 0-2

 

Luxembourg 3, Scotland 0

There was never a doubt for Luxembourg in a sweep of Scotland Saturday as the home side led nearly throughout.

Scotland led 8-6 in Set 1, but that was quickly erased and Luxembourg led 16-15 at the second timeout and the rest of the way in a 25-20 win. Sets 2 and 3 were all Luxembourg as the team led by as many as 10 (21-11) in Set 2 and by seven at 21-14 in Set 3.

Luxembourg outblocked the Scots 7-5 and took advantage of 30 miscues in the match, while limiting its own errors to just 18.

Each team managed three aces in the match.

Annalena Mach led the way for the Red Lion Ladies with 13 points, all on kills, while Betty Hoffmann added 12 points, with 10 kills, a block and an ace.

Catherine Smy paced Scotland with nine points, including seven kills, a block and an ace. Mhairi Agnew added eight points, with five kills, two blocks and an ace.

 

Iceland 3, Faroe Islands 0

Iceland never trailed in a walk-over of the Faroe Islands, hitting at a 49 percent clip and dominating the rest of the stat sheet as well.

Iceland piled up 46 points on kills, double that of its foes, while also outblocking them 6-2 and outserving them 5-1.

Iceland was well in control by the midway point of each stanza, leading by eight, nine and five respectively.

Maria Run Karlsdottir paced all scorers with 15 points for Iceland, including 12 kills and two aces. Jona Guolaug Vigfusdottir added 14 points, all on kills, while Thelma Dogg Gretarsdottir chipped in 10 points with seven kills and a match-best three aces.

Sofia Purkhus led the Faroe Islands with 12 points, including 11 killls and a block. Anja Sonnedottir Danielsen added seven points, all on kills.

 

Cyprus 3, Scotland 1

The team that led at the first timeout of each set went on to win it as Cyprus outlasted Scotland in four sets in the Scot’s second match of the day.

Cyprus took the first set with help from five blocks and a 55 percent hitting efficiency. Scotland racked up 18 kills and hit at a 49 percent clip en route to the Set 2 victory. Cyprus raced ahead 8-3 in Set 2 and pushed on to a 10-point edge at 16-6, while making good on 57 percent of its offensive chances. The fourth set included four blocks and three aces from the Cyprus side and just a 20 percent hitting effort from the worn-out Scots.

Cyprus outblocked Scotland 14-3 and outserved them 10-8 in aces, while hitting at a 46 percent clip for the match.

Andrea Charalambous led the way for Cyprus with 20 points, including 17 kills and two blocks. Vasiliki Chatzikonstanta added 16 points, including two blocks and two aces, while Andri Ioradnous (11) and Georgia Stavrinides (11) also posted double-digit point tallies. Stavrinides managed five of the team’s 14 blocks, while also adding three aces.

Jennifer Thom paced Scotland with 16 points, including 14 kills, while Laura Mcready and Catherine Smy turned in 11 points apiece. McReady added 10 kills, while Smy chipped in eight kills and three aces.

 

Iceland 3, Luxembourg 0

Iceland led nearly throughout its second sweep of the day, taking out Luxembourg with help from seven aces and a 48 percent hitting effort.

The hosts took a brief lead late in Set 2 at 22-21 after rallying from five points down. The Lady Red Lions staved off four set point chances by Iceland, but could not grab the victory. Iceland boasts a five-point lead at the midway point of Set 3 and held on for the 25-19 win.

Iceland was aided by 21 Luxembourg errors, while also outblocking them 4-2 and outserving them 7-5. Luxembourg managed a 36 percent hitting effort for the match.

Jona Guolaug Vigfusdottir led all scorers with 19 points for Iceland, including 16 kills and three aces. Thelma Dogg Gretarsdottir and Maria Run Karlsdottir chipped in 12 points apiece, with 12 and 11 kills respectively.

Betty Hoffman led the home side with 15 points, including 13 kills, a block and an ace in the losing effort. Annalena Mach added nine points, with eight kills and an ace.

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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