Golden #EuroLeagueM: Flying Croatia sweep away Denmark, Estonia and Portugal victorious after hard-fought games
Recap
With the CEV Volleyball European Golden League 2022-Men getting closer to reaching its climax, the teams in the competition show even greater determination to deliver outstanding Volleyball.
In Pool A, Slovakia and Portugal battled it out in a real five-set thriller, but it is the team of Portugal who claimed the victory. 2021 Golden #EuroLeagueM winners Türkiye remain pool leaders.
Croatia swept away Denmark in Pool B, seizing another 3-0 win over the same opponent. The hosts of the Final Four tournament finish in the League Round with four victories out of six matches, whereas Ukraine top the charts with six wins. Both teams proceed ahead to the final tournament.
In Pool C, Estonia and Latvia delivered another amazing match, and it was again the team of Estonia who emerged victorious at 3-1.
All match results and current standings here.
Croatia disappointed the team of Denmark again, seizing another 3-0 win over them, after having done so in the previous legs. The hosts of this year’s Final Four, did not leave any doubts over who was the better team. Delivering outstanding performance on the block (12) and good on the serve (six aces), the players of Cedric Enard bring home another win one leg before the end of the League Round. The Croatian team also seized more on ther opponents’ errors - 24 points.
Croatia dominated on the court completely in the first set of the match, taking an early lead (7-5), and never looking back (11-6, 20-16). The players around head coach Cedric Enard delivered a better performance on the blocking (four) and aced three times, while the hosts couldn't record a point from neither of both elements, even though they scored one more from direct attack - 11 to 10. Denmark also suffered from some own errors - eight, allowing Croatia to emerge victorious in this part.
The same scenario unfolded in the second set. Denmark were again struggling to find their rhythm, while Croatia gradually were leading a comfortable point difference to eventually get closer to the victory, taking a 2-0 set lead. Even the improved reception, delivered by the Danish team (29% exc. to 9% compared to the first set), the more efficient attack by the Croats (46% to 33%) turned out to be the key to the success in this set.
The guests stormed in the beginning of the third set, leading at 9-3 in their favour. Coach Kristian Knudsen tried to stop the inspired team of Croatia, calling for a time out, but it didn’t work out, as the Croatian attack kept on working very well (67% exc.), while Denmark still couldn’t find a way to deal with their own errors, and weren’t able to organise their own attacks (30% exc.).
As many as 15 points by the match top scorer Rasmus Breuning Nielsen weren’t enough for the hosts to finish better. For the winners, Petar Dirlic scored the most (13), but credit goes also to Kruno Nikacevic, who finished with 9 point, and the near perfect 83% exc. in attack.
Estonia 3-1 Latvia (25-17, 25-22, 25-27, 25-23)
In a rematch of the Baltic derby between Estonia and Latvia from Leg 2 (finished 3-2 for Estonia), the teams locked horns again in Leg 5, and to the delight of the fans in sports hall University of Tartu, delivered some high-class Volleyball since the very beginning of the match.
Overall, Estonia dominated on all counts as they proved better on attack - 58 to 49 winning spikes, nine to six kill blocks, and five to three aces.
The teams battled it out right after the first referee signal (5-4), but the Estonians proved being the more resilient team in this set. Even though Latvia tried breathing down their necks’ in several occasions (from 14-9 to 14-12; 16-12 to 15-17), team Estonia would always take things into their hands, and eventually emerged victorious at 25-17.
Much more intriguing was the second set, as both the hosts and the guests fought hard for each point, as none of the sides was able to score a break point (4-5, 8-8, 11-10,14-13). However, in the end, the players, guided by head coach Fabio Soli showed greated determination, winning at 25-22.
After a nail-biting third set, Latvia came back in the match. Although Estonia were close to tasting the sweet feeling of a straight-set victory as they were leading through most of the set (14-10, 20-18), the guests never gave up, and after a serie of three points at 23-22, had their first setpoint. Even though Estonia denied two setpoints, eventually, the Latvian players emerged victorious (2 7-25) and brought back the intrigue in the match.
Inspired, Latvia started much better in the fourth set, leading at 13-8 in their favour. They continued their domination until the 22th point, and just when it looked like that the match will end in five set, Estonia showed nerves of steel, equalising at 22-22. Thanks to great concentration, the Estonian players had a matchpoint at 24-23. Latvia saved it, but the hosts had no mercy for the next one, and after a successful block-out, congratulated themselves with the win.
Märt Tammearu of the winners’ team finished as top scorer, recording 20 points to his name. For Latvia, Atvars Ozolins scored 16 times, but finished with efficiency of only 38%.
Slovakia 2-3 Portugal (22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 14-16)
Portugal survived a real five-set thriller against Slovakia. Statistically, the Slovak team was better - 72 to 71 winning spikes, 14 to nine kill blocks, seven to two aces. However, their inability to reduce their own mistakes - 26, costed them the victory, as Portugal played more concentrated, giving to their opponents only 13 points from this element.
Portugal started better in the match, taking a complete control over the action in the first set. The players around head coach Joao Miguel Jose proved better on the winning spikes (14 to nine) and on the blocking (five to three). Two aces by the Slovaks couldn’t stop them towards opening in their favour.
However, the host side wasn’t ready to give up easily. After some point-for-point races in the second set, Slovakia found their way to tying the set score, finishing with one more point from attack (19 to 18) and two kill blocks, while Portugal couldn’t record a single. The hosts also let some errors affect the score.
The next two sets were again a real fight on the court - Portugal took the third one, but it was mainly Slovakia’s “guilt” as they recorded as many as seven own errors, and even though they were better on the blocking (seven to three) and aced three times, it wasn’t enough. However, the players of Marek Kardos took a sweet revenge in the fourth set, completely dominating on attack - 20 to 11 winning spikes.
Showing precision to the detail in the deicing set, Portugal could seize the win.
Lourenco Martins with 26 points contributed the most for his team’s win, while for Slovakia Juluis Firkal scored 22.