Emotion is never enough at the #EuroVolleyW Qualifiers!
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What a night for the #EuroVolleyW Qualifiers! Volleyball fans all over the continent had the chance to watch nine incredible matches, as women are fighting point by point to get into the finals of the competition.
In Pool C, the Ukrainian team played against Cyprus. It was their debut in the competition. The match took place in Kutná Hora, where Ukraine has been training since the beginning of the month. And their ‘home’ in the tournament was a positive factor, as they defeated the visitors, winning three sets in a row (25-17, 25-14, 25-9).
The Ukrainian team was superior in every fundamental and scored an amazing 43 Winning Spikes. Cyprus tried to resist and even saved a match point, but a Ukrainian attack finished the match. Olesia Rykhliuk (UKR) made 15 points and was the top scorer of the match.
The other match of the night involving teams from Pool C was Portugal and Hungary. The visitors were effective and won three sets (18-25, 18-25, 14-25). Both teams had balance in attack, but the Hungarian defence made the Portuguese squad night very hard! The visitors had 15 killing blocks, compared to 7 of the home team.
In Pool E, it was the visitors who made it! Spain travelled all the way to Denmark to guarantee the first victory in the competition. The Spanish squad was superior in both, attack and defence, and won the three sets (17-25, 16-25, 19-25) in a little more than an hour. Both teams are back in court on the 24th.
Romania received Israel also in Pool E and scored 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-10). The local team showed superiority in attack, with 41 winning spikes compared to 20 of Israel. Adelina Budai-Ungureanu (ROU) guaranteed her team 15 points and was the top scorer of the day. Both teams play again on the 24th and Israel will have the chance to get the first victory against Croatia.
In another great match in Pool E, Slovakia received Latvia and won three sets in a row (25-10, 25-12, 25-21). The last match was the most balanced one, but the local squad was inspired (they did 9 aces!) and finished the match in 71 minutes. Next, Slovakia will meet Spain and Latvia will try the first win against Denmark.
In Pool D, Slovenia received Austria to settle the first win in the Qualifiers with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 28-26). A highlight of the match was Lorena Lorber Fijok that made 22 points to be the top scorer of the match. Both teams will meet in a second leg later this week.
Also in Pool D, Azerbaijan also got its first points in the competition by beating Georgia with 3-0 (28-26, 25-11, 25-20). The Azerbaijani attack worked very well during the whole time and the squad needed 72 minutes to finish the match. Both teams meet again on the 24th, but in Georgia! Who will win this time?
The Czech Republic and Iceland met in Pool B. The home team needed only 65 to score three sets (25-14, 25-5, 25-17) and win. The local squad was superior in every fundamental and had no difficulties to get its first victory in the Qualifiers. Both teams play this week and, while the Czech Republic will meet Finland, Iceland will have the chance to recover against Montenegro.
Last, but not least, Greece and Switzerland played in Pool F and made the most balanced match of the night. The home team won three sets (25-17, 26-24, 25-23) but never had an easy time, as the visitors chased them point by point. Greek squad needed all the 20 points scored by Martha Evdokia Anthouli (GRE), the top scorer of the game, to guarantee the victory.
Nine matches and every sort of emotion were present in this round of the #EuroVolleyW Qualifiers. And don’t miss it, there is much more to come!
