Greece, France on collision course for direct ticket to #EuroVolleyU19W
News
On Friday, France and hosts Greece opened their campaigns in Pool E of the #EuroVolleyU19W qualifiers with convincing wins that keep them on track for a showdown for first place on the last day of competition - with a ticket to the final phase at stake.
Greece thundered past Latvia 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-22) before a very happy sell-out crowd in the Thessaloniki suburb of Panorama, on the slopes of Mount Chortiatis.
Latvia put up a feisty resistance, but Greece’s attacking power proved just a bit too much to cope with, as Martha Evdokia Anthouli produced a match high 25 points and a 23/38 for a 61% killing efficiency (8/9 for 89% in the first set).
Pressure from the service line by Greece yielded as many as 14 aces (five by Evangelia Tani and four by Georgia-Loula Angelopoulou alone) to seal the deal for the home side.
Anestis Giannakopoulos“It was an opening day as we expected it. I am satisfied with the final result, but we still have a lot more to give in the next two matches.”
Head coach of Greece
“We knew ahead of the match that it would be a difficult one, as we have the youngest team in the tournament,” added Latvia head coach Ilmars Pulins.
Earlier in the afternoon, France had fully dominated Israel for a 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-15) sweep which was actually even easier than the final score might suggest.
France created great problems for Israel with their blocking with six stuffs by Nora Legrand alone and libero Julia Casadei was always on hand to tie up any loose ends in the back row, as Nawelle Chouikh-Barbez emerged top scorer of the game on 14 points and greatly contributed in reception too. Legrand stopped at 13 - the only other player across both sides to score in double digits.
Fabrice Vial“I am very happy for the result because an opening match is always difficult. I believe that first place will be decided against Greece, but we must first beat Latvia - and we do not know much about them."
Head coach of France
“Our basic goal in this competition is to enjoy the games and gain experience. This generation is unlucky due to the pandemic, but we are happy to be back on court to play after two years off,” said Israel head coach Logan Tom, the legendary American four-time Olympian.
The tournament continues Saturday with France taking on Latvia and Greece hosting Israel.
All Pool E matches are available to watch live and on demand on the Hellenic Volleyball Federation YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/hellenicvolleyball