Frontrunners maintain perfect record in Riga, as battle for World Championship berth heats up

On Monday, Türkiye and Italy secured their fifth consecutive victory at #EuroVolleyU18W, as they edge closer to the decisive match for the top spot in the Riga pool. The situation is also getting more tangled up behind the favourites, with the teams from Spain, Poland and Belgium seriously vying for a chance to qualify for the next year’s World Championship.

Belgium began their campaign in Riga with three losses in a row. However, after a rest day, the team led by Yorick Vande Velde found their rhythm and secured their second consecutive victory on Monday, re-entering the race for third place in the pool. Their 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-12) win over Iceland came as a breath of fresh air for the Belgian team following their earlier, difficult encounters against the group leaders.
“We enjoyed this game because there was a fun atmosphere and a lot of enthusiasm from both teams and the fans. After a difficult start to the tournament, we have found a really good feeling and can still contend for a top spot here. We are going to try our best and we will see, how it goes. Most importantly, we are able to maintain a positive team atmosphere regardless of the score. We are capable of playing well, we just need to do it with the right confidence,” said Belgian player Lotte Vandeven. She scored four of her nine points via aces. Lana Vandecasteele, named the team’s best player of the match, also scored nine points, while Ana Van den Spiegel was the top scorer with 13 points.

It looks like Belgium will be vying for third place in the Riga group with Spain and Poland. The latter defeated Czechia, another contender for that spot, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-17) on Monday. Although the Czechs performed well at the net, the Polish team consistently found ways to get the ball past their opponents’ hands. “We gave our hearts into this game and fought really hard. We really want to make it to the World Championship, that is a huge motivation for us. The earlier losses to Italy and Türkiye also spurred us on to show today that we can play better. We know we are good, and we wanted to show that to others as well,” said Polish libero Zuzanna Szymczyk after the victory. Although Czechia scored 10 points from blocks, the leaders of the Polish team, spearheaded by Dominika Mrožek, Alicja Koprowska, and Jagna Grosicka, attacked with high precision, thereby securing the victory.

The head-to-head match between Belgium and Poland on Wednesday will be crucial in the battle for third place, while all three contenders will have to get the job done against Iceland, Czechia, and Latvia in the final round of pool play. 

The pool leaders continued in their usual rhythm on Monday. In the early match, Türkiye defeated Spain 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-16), while Italy prevailed over hosts Latvia 3-0 as well (25-18, 25-11, 25-16). “My favourite part of the game today? Winning, of course!” opposite Anita Tessariol smiled broadly. She will try to continue that trend on Wednesday against Spain.