Poland And Turkey Round-Up #EuroVolleyU19W’s Final 4

2018 CEV U19 VOLLEYBALL EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – WOMEN

• September 1–9
• Tirana and Durres – Albania
• Schedule
• Day 1; Day 2; Day 3; Day 4

At last we are met with the competition’s Final 4, as Poland will meet Russia and Italy will meet Turkey at the #EuroVolleyU19W Semis. The first match-up promisses to be a nail bitter, as Russia has only so far lost 2 sets in the competition, while Poland is not that far behind, with onl 3 sets lost. Poland will have at its side the tournament’s leading scorer so far, Magdalena Stysiak, who is racking up points at 5.77 points/set pace. Viktoriia Pushkina will try to stop her, as she is averaging an absurd 1.53 blocks per set. Meanwhile, Italy, one of the best offensive teams in the competition, will go head to head against Turkey, one of competition’s best defensive teams. Here is the day’s recap:

Pool I

• Bulgaria vs. Belarus 1-3 (20-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-25) – Recap
• Italy vs. Albania 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-19) – Recap
• Poland vs. The Netherlands 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-18) – Recap

Pool II

• Serbia vs. Slovakia 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 27-25) – Recap
• France vs. Turkey 0-3 (20-25, 18-25, 17-25) – Recap
• Russia vs. Germany 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-14) – Recap

Stats of the Day

• Belarus’ Hanna Hryshkevich led all of the day’s scorers with 21 points on 19/26 (73%) hitting.
• Italy’s Francesca Scola had an amazing 9-ace performance in only 3 sets of play.
• Russia Viktoriia Pushina had 5 blocks

Quotes of the Day

The difference in reactions between advancing in the tournament and failing to:

Asen Metodiev, head coach of Bulgaria: “I am very disappointed with this Championship, as our performance did not match our expectations. Something was missing in our play – and it is more than just experience, we were missing self-confidence in the crucial moments.”

Philippe-Marie Salvan, head coach of France: “It was a difficult game because we did not have anything to win. It means that it was difficult to motivate my players. There was just the pleasure to be on the court together as a team. On the other hand, the Turkish team was really motivated as they wanted to go to the semi-finals. In that case, my team did not have the mentality to fight.”

Sahin Catma, head coach of Turkey: “Today was a very important match for us, against a very strong team, but we just had to win. Congratulations to my team, but we must say that we haven’t finished our work here yet.’

Waldemar Kawka, head coach of Poland: “I am happy with finishing in second place. I am happy also because my players showed a real fighting spirit on the court. This is why we came to Albania and now we will go to Tirana motivated and inspired. Russia is a tough team, but I believe my team is capable of causing the surprise.”

Standings