Turkey, Bulgaria Remain on Collision Course with 3-0 Sweeps in Pool C

FIVB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION WOMEN

• May 24- June 4, 2017
• Group C
• Hristo Botev, Sofia, Bulgaria
• Schedule/Results

Group C’s two powerhouses, World #12 Turkey and World #17 Bulgaria, remained undefeated after 2 days of play, sweeping Switzerland and Romania, respectively, 3-0. So far, the group has shown little in the way of intensity or excitement – each of the 6 matches through 2 days of competition has been a 3-0 sweep in one direction or the other.

Group C won’t see much intrigue until Saturday, where Turkey and Bulgaria face off in what is likely the deciding match for which team wins Pool C and advances to Worlds, and which finishes as runner-up and moves on to the 3rd round of qualifying.

2 from 2 for @TVForgtr in Pool C in BUL as they beat @swissvolley in straight sets (16, 11, 17) #FIVBWomensWCH pic.twitter.com/WXVmBqBzbA

— CEVolleyball (@CEVolleyball) June 1, 2017

Turkey def. Switzerland 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-17)

Switzerland is home to one of the best club teams in the world, Volero Zurich, who have played for the bronze medal in each of the last 5 FIVB Club World Championships, but their National Team has struggled to get off the ground this week with a second-straight 3-0 sweep.

The latest came at the hands of Turkey, who dominated Switzerland in 2 sets before their coach Giovanni Guidetti brought in all subs to start the 3rd set.

In total, Turkey out-blocked Switzerland 12-4 in the match and hit 58%. That included 3 blocks from Seda Aslanyurek, in spite of only playing in 2 sets.

No player in the match reached double figures, with Aslanyurek and Switzerland’s Maja Stock scoring 9 points each.

“We did our job,” Guidetti said after the match. “I saw some good things from my team and some bad ones, which we have to analyse later today. Our opponent played better than Kosovo did yesterday. I think that the level of the opposition is getting higher with each match and this is good for us, because I expect to be in perfect condition for our ‘final’ matchup against Bulgaria. Romania is a good team with good attackers and very good middle-blockers, so tomorrow we will have to play better than we did today.”

“It was not an easy game for sure,” Turkey’s Naz Aydemir Akyol said. “Switzerland was a better opponent than Kosovo, but the level of our opponents is getting higher with each day and we know that our strongest opponents are still on our way, so we used these first two matches to develop the right chemistry within the team because we didn’t have much time to prepare for this tournament. We need to improve many things because we want to qualify for the World Championship in Japan by finishing first in this pool.”

“I am very satisfied with the early stages of the match. Today we were ready to take up the challenge,” Swiss coach Timothy Lippuner said. “Unfortunately, in the second set we struggled but we played well in the third one, so I am proud of the spirit shown by the team. We were better in reception, attack and service, so we made some progress from yesterday.”

Switzerland did improve on their service reception, recording 33% positive and 18% excellent in the match. A day earlier against Bulgaria, they actually performed a little better in these categories (39% and 20%, respectively), but the Swiss still felt that this was an area where they improved on Thursday.

“Yesterday we had a lot of problems in reception but today we managed to do our best in this aspect of the game,” Swiss captain Laura Kuenzler said. “This gave us the opportunity to attack and serve well and I am happy with the progress we could see compared to yesterday’s game with Bulgaria.”

Bulgaria def. Romania 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-21)

The Bulgarians dominated early in all 3 sets against Romania on Thursday, and in spite of a few Romanian comeback bids, the final result was a 3-0 sweep in favor of the home team in front of 300 fans.

Bulgaria led 21-14 in the 1st before Romania fought all the way back to push Bulgaria to the minimum 2-point margin of victory.

In the 2nd, Bulgaria’s 21 saw only 12 points for Romania, and there was no comeback to be had, as Buulgaria finished off the set easily in 25-15.

In the 3rd, another rout looked on its way, as Bulgaria opened with an 8-2 run, but Romania fought back to 16-14. From there, however, Bulgaria was able to inch away and held a 4-point lead late to win the set 25-21 and finish off the match.

Bulgaria out-hit Romania 43%-31% and out-blocked them 13-9 overall in the match. Much of the difference in both categories, however, came in a lopsided 2nd frame where Bulgaria recorded 6 blocks, hit 61% and only allowed Romania to execute on 18% of its swings. Romania held the edge in the service game with 7 aces and only 5 errors, as compared to 5 aces and 8 errors for Romania.

Bulgarian Elitsa Vasileva led all scorers with 17 points, including 14 kills, 2 blocks, and an ace, all while sersving as the team’s primary receiver for the match. Teammate Hristina Ruseva backed her with 14 points – 6 of which came on blocks (after having just 1 in the team’s opener on Wednesday).

Ioana Maria Baciu had 13 points for Romania, including her best output of 6 in the final set as she attempted to rally her team.

Montenegro def. Kosovo 3-0 (25-20, 25-7, 25-5)

The Cinderella Kosovo team, playing in just its second-ever senior international match, came out firing on Thursday against Montenegro. In spite of a resounding 3-0 defeat on Wednesday to Turkey, where Kosovo scored only 28 points in the match, they seemed to catch Montenegro off-guard on Thursday, holding within 5 points for most of the first set – thanks in part to 4 aces in the opener alone.

“For our team every victory is important,” Montenegro coach Dragan Nesic said. “It does not depend on which team we play, we must be happy with any good results. We were not enough concentrated in the opening set but in the next two we improved our performance. For sure we are not the best team here, but we are not the weakest opponent. Officially, this is the first victory for us this season. I congratulate my team and of course all respect for Kosovo.”

While Kosovo’s service game remained strong throughout the match (they finished with 8 aces from 6 different players), Montenegro quickly righted their ship and gave up just 12 over the final 2 sets. That includes a tournament-best defensive effort of just 5 allowed points in the 3rd and final set, including no Kosovo aces, to seal victory.

“In the first set we started really well,” said Kosovo’s coach Lorik Ilazi afterward. “We played tactically very good, and my players followed the game plan we had agreed upon. Our reception was stable and as a result, the first set was a close call. This was our goal before the match; in the following sets I made some substitutions, since it is important that all players feel the rhythm of the game and gain experience from international competition. Of course, congratulations to Montenegro. They deserved the victory.”