Greece and Croatia qualify for #EuroVolleyU16W Final Round
News
On the last competition day in Sigulda, Team Greece defeated Latvia, while Croatia overcame Estonia to secure their spot in the Final Round of this year’s #EuroVolleyU16W. In front of their home crowd, the Latvian girls fell to Greece 0-3 (20-25, 17-25, 13-25), thereby finishing the tournament in third place.
Latvia started the match with a 4-0 run, following an attack by Samanta Liepa, but Greece quickly responded by winning the next four rallies. The teams remained level until 10-10, when Greece, led by a Dorothea Karagkouti attack, scored four consecutive points and eventually secured the first set 25-20 after a block by Evelina Gzountelli.
Greece opened the second set with three straight points, but Latvia responded in kind, taking an 8-6 lead after an attack by Adriana Bukovska. However, Greece won the next four rallies and ultimately took the set 25-17 following a service error by Marta Roziņa.
In the third set, Latvia scored the first point, but Greece quickly pulled away with six consecutive points, including an ace by Karagkouti, thereby leading 10-4. They closed the match 25-13 after Kristīne Niedra hit out of bounds.
For Latvia, team captain Samanta Liepa and Bukovska scored 10 and nine points respectively, with both collecting a number of aces from the service line. Greece’s top scorer was Dorothea Christina Karagkouti with 19 points. Adriana Bukovska was named Latvia’s best player, while Greece’s best was setter Zoi Charitou.
“Overall, today’s game was good. Fatigue probably started to show, especially in the third set where the girls were tired. Some minor injuries also slightly affected the game,” said Latvia’s head coach Raivis Mizāns. “I can only evaluate the tournament positively. As I have said before, looking at when we started working with these girls, and now – they are two different teams. Against Greece and Croatia, which are teams of a different calibre, we managed to compete well. In Sigulda, we learned what it means to be a team and to support each other more. If previously we might have focused more on individual stats, now we play team volleyball. Whereas earlier we thought points could only be scored with power, now we also score with smart plays,” the coach added.
Adriana Bukovska“We showed everything we could today and played better than we had done against Croatia. We played really well, we can be proud, and we played much better than in the first round. The memory I’ll keep from this tournament is this game against Greece, which was our best.”
Opposite hitter of Latvia
“Today, the better team won, although Latvia played very well. We focused on our game plan and stuck to what we discussed before the match,” said Greece’s head coach Christos Triantafyllopoulos after the game. "I am very satisfied with our team’s performance throughout the tournament. Our performance was excellent.”
“As for potential stars, I really liked Lana Drviš from Croatia, Adriana Bukovska from Latvia, Maria Hall from Estonia, but within our own team, I would highlight Dorothea Karagkouti, Zoi Charitou, and Konstantina Drempela,” he added.
In the day’s first match, Croatia defeated Estonia 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-13). Croatia’s Lana Drviš scored 17 points, and Emilie Stojić added 15, with four and seven points respectively coming from service aces. For Estonia, Iida Mari Tamm and Melinda Sõrmus each scored seven points.
Greece won all three of their matches, and Croatia secured two wins, with both advancing to the Final Round. Latvia finished with one win and retains theoretical chances of qualifying as the best third-placed team across five second-round qualifiers, while Estonia ended the tournament without a single win.