Italy and Turkey are in the finale of the U17 European championship

Semi-finals day on the U17 European championship started with the match between Slovenia and Bulgaria. At the beginning, match was very even. Then Iva Dudova started serve and when Slovenia’s coach took a timeout, Bulgaria led 10:6 and thanks to that, they won first set. “Everybody was very concentered to this match, we fought for every ball, I think that we were better on serve then them. We showed that we deserve to be in the world championship next year.” Said Bulgarian opposite Iva Dudova.

In the second set, Bulgaria was clearly better and the led from the start to the end of the set. Bulgarian players had a few points lead also in the third set, they won whole match and they will play for fifth position on U17 European championship tomorrow. “Bulgaria was better today, we had a little problem with their bigger blockers, it was hard to score. They played very well.” commented Slovenian assistant coach Jaros Stekl.

In the second match of the day, The Netherlands played against Poland. Polish players started game in the big style, in the first set they had six points lead, they were increasing it and won the first set 25:14. Second set was more even, but Poland was a little bit better still and finally won the set.

In the third one, Dutch players were fighting, in the end of the set, the score was even, 20:20. In the dramatic end, the Netherlands was more patient and finally won the set. In the fourth set, Polish players absolutely broke Dutch game, they led 9:0.

Dutch players had nothing to do with it, ale lost this set and whole match 1:3. Tomorrow, The Netherlands will play against Slovenia for seventh position.

First semi-finals for medal played team Italy and team Germany. Italian players were a little bit better, they had five points lead, but Germans were fighting for every ball. Italy won the first set, and they were one step closer to the finale. Italian domination continued in the second set, and they won it easily 25:15.

Italy was missing only one set for advance to the finals. But German players didn’t give up and still fought. They created five points lead, but the end of the set was dramatic and even. Italian players showed their qualities and won set 25:21.

Tomorrow, they will play for U17 European champion title. 

Last game of the day, second semi-final, was played by Serbia and Turkey. First set was absolutely even, any team didn’t lead more than two points. Until score 14:14, then, Turkey got three points in a row, and they made their lead bigger.

Serbia couldn’t play their game and they lost the set 16:25. But in the second one, they woke up and Serbia made a few points lead. Serbian players still led and won the second set. Third set showed wonderful volleyball from both teams. They both were fighting for each ball, so the score was really close for whole set. On the score 16:16, Serbia gained four points in the row and thanks to that, they also won this set.

The start of the fourth set was under the Turkish control, they led 5:0 and then 9:1. But then, Serbia played better, Turkey started to make a mistakes and difference in the score was only two points, but Turkey took it again and made nine points lead. So, match went into the fifth set. It was even like whole match. Both teams played great, only details decided, set was played in very tense atmosphere, Turkey got a yellow card, but despite of that, they led 8:5. After changing sides, score was even, 8:8. In the end, set gained Turkey because they were better in a few balls, and they will play the finale against Italy on the Sunday. Serbia and Germany will play for bronze medal.

“It was very tough game, we started to play very nervous, I never saw my girls played so nervous like today. Turkish team did a great match, they served very well, we made many mistakes and lost easy balls. Unfortunately, we lost, but tomorrow, we will play one more match, and we want to win it.” Said Serbian coach Mirjana Musulin.