France, Hungary and Germany stay unbeaten in Šiauliai

Day 2 of #EuroVolleyU18W Pool II action kept the intensity from the previous day going, with tight sets, standout individual performances, and plenty of fight from every team on court.

Bulgaria and the Netherlands served up a tense, back-and-forth battle through the first three sets, with the Dutch side pushing Bulgaria all the way to the edge of a fifth. A dramatic third set summed up the tone of the match, before Bulgaria found a different gear in the fourth, taking control and closing out the win in style (25-19, 26-24, 23-25, 25-13). Bozhidara Ivanova was once again the standout performer for Bulgaria, finishing as the top scorer with 21 points. For the Netherlands, Luna Duinkerken was a constant threat from the service line, finishing with three aces as her side matched Bulgaria’s intensity throughout with real grit and physicality.

France made it two wins from two, seeing off Finland in straight sets (25-15, 27-25, 25-15). The scoreline does not tell the full story, as Finland pushed France to their absolute limit in the second set, producing one of the best atmospheres of the day and a real glimpse of the Nordic side’s potential. Elena Sanchez continued her strong tournament, finishing as the top scorer with 14 points. Finland’s Ellinoora Tuominen was a picture of consistency at the back, closing out the match with a 44% perfect reception rate for the Finns. 

Hungary edged out the host nation in a four-set contest, with Lithuania fighting back to take the third set before Hungary regained control to close out the win (25-15, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19). Eszter Zsombok was the top scorer for Hungary (20 points), while the home crowd had plenty to celebrate too, with Gerda Jatkonytė closing out the match as the best server, finishing with five aces. The standout of the match, though, was the energy from both benches, with every point met by full support from both squads, on court and off.

Teams of Germany and Greece closed the day. Germany won in three straight sets (25-11, 25-22, 25-18). The best performance in terms of points came from the German team with captain Delia Siebenberg (11), who also scored four aces, thus becoming the best server of the match. Greece had a good performance backrow with a good percentage of perfect reception from Dimitra Razakia, while Georgia Georgiou brought home three blocks to emerge as the best blocker of the game together with Diyara Aydogan of Germany. 

Siauliu Arena is ready for Day 3 of competition, waiting to welcome the teams once again for another show of strength and resilience!