The teams of Turkey, Hungary and Russia in Pool I as well as those representing Slovakia and Bulgaria in Pool II claimed on Sunday their second victory from as many matches to continue their #EuroVolleyU16W journey in emphatic style. After their surprising setback on Saturday, Italy bounced back to thump Serbia in three sets.
In the opening match of the day in Pool II, Bulgaria thumped Romania in three sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-19) to claim first place in the current standing of the group. Romania put up a bit more of a fight in the third set, but it was not enough. Bulgarian outside hitter Maria-Gabriela Milicevic was the top scorer of this game with 12 points to her name.
After their victory over Romania on Sunday, the home side of Slovakia defeated Croatia 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 16-25, 25-23). Croatia edged ahead 19-15 and 23-21 in the first set and 19-16 in the second set, but Slovakia fought their way back. The Croatian girls comfortably took the third set, but in the fourth set Slovakia dominated again, especially thanks to outside hitter Michaela Kánová, who eventually scored as many as 29 points.
“I am very happy for this victory. The girls fought hard from the very first ball to the end, and our fantastic audience helped us a lot. In the first two sets, we had to come from behind, but we managed to turn the situation in our favour and that is a great satisfaction. I believe that these two wins could be enough to advance to the next phase of the tournament.”
Michal Matušov
Head coach of Slovakia
In Pool I in Nyiregyhaza, reigning U16 European champions Turkey continued their campaign to retain the title they claimed two years ago in Trieste with a 3-0 shutout of the Czech Republic (25-17, 25-14, 25-15) with as many as four of their players finishing the match in double digits.
The hosts from Hungary added another victory to their tally as they edged Belgium 3-1 much to the delight of some 300 fans in attendance. Cecilia Noemi Jambor was once again Hungary’s main weapon, with a personal tally of 21 points. Tournament favourites Russia needed 67 minutes only to complete a 3-0 rout of Poland propelled by the 19 points scored by Veronika Eremeeva.
News:
CEV – European Volleyball
HUN – Volleyball Hungary
CVF – Czech Volleyball
HOS – Volleyball Croatia
SVF – Volleyball Slovakia
