Bosnia & Herzegovina Holds Its Nerves to Get a Win against Albania

Albania and Bosnia & Herzegovina lined up against each other, for the second time in exactly 24 hours on Sunday evening in the local capital, Tirana, as the two sides played their third match of Pool G - CEV EuroVolley 2023 Men Qualifiers.

In fact, the game seemed to be a déjà vu of the previous day’s match, where Bosnia & Herzegovina, playing as hosts, took the first two sets, but the Albanians turned the tie on its head, winning the other three to secure the first win in this pool.

Precisely the same scenario unfolded on Sunday on the second game, as the Bosnians, lead by coach Dusko Nikolic, took the first two sets with an identical score, 25-18. But the home team, lead by coach Giannis Melkas, came to life in the third set, showing character in winning it 25-21 and igniting hope of a repeat of Saturday’s feat.

But that feat did not repeat on Sunday, as the Bosnians, unlike the previous game, held their nerves to resist the home side’s attempts and to win the 4th set comfortably, 25-15, and win the match 3-1.

It was an important win for Bosnia & Herzegovina, who had lost in 3 sets in their last visit in Tirana, at the group phase of CEV European Silver League 2022, and a result that throws the Pool G wide open.

With Switzerland coming on top of their 5 set rollercoaster home encounter with Romania, the situation is pretty tight in the standings. The Swiss lead by 5 points, one more than Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina, with the Albanians bottom of the group with two points.

Next, Romania hosts Bosnia & Herzegovina while Albania travels to Switzerland, with both games scheduled to be played on 10th August .