Volleyball

Latvia waiting for the opponent in the final of Silver #EuroLeagueM

Recap

Article Wed, Jun 28 2023
Author: Nika Aurora Ključarić

The semifinal matches of the Men’s CEV Volleyball European Silver League took place on a Wednesday night and now we know that Latvia is one of this year’s finalists. The other one will be known on a Saturday after the second leg of a semifinal match between Cyprus and Hungary ends.

In today’s matches, Latvia beat Austria 3-0 and Cyprus beat Hungary 3-1. In the first leg of the semifinals that was played a few days ago, Latvia won over Austria by 3-0 and when combined, Latvia won with a clear result, 6-0. Let’s dive into it.

Latvia vs Austria: 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-23)

The Austrian team needed a strong win in this match since they have lost the first one with a clear 0-3. But that didn’t happen. They tried keeping up with the rhythm of Latvians but it wasn’t possible. With 7-3 on the scoreboard, Latvians were showing their dominance which kept growing and they got to a seven-point lead (17-10). They’ve closed the set by 25-19.

The second set was quite similar to the first one whereas Latvia was once again showing their dominance. With 8-3 on the scoreboard, they were showing to Austrians that they are in it to win it. Their advantage kept growing and by 19-12, it was obvious that Latvians are taking yet another set. They ended it by 25-21.

Latvians already knew that they are in the finals but Austrians still didn’t let go. They wanted to finish this with at least one won set, but that didn’t happen. With three kill blocks, Latvians were a better team on the field, and at 25-23 in the third set, they started with a huge celebration!

Cyprus vs Hungary: 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21)

The national teams of Cyprus and Hungary today played their first semifinal match and Cyprus is in a better position of going through to the semifinals since they won over Hungary by 3-1. The first set started off equally. The teams played point-by-point up until the very end but in the end, it was Cyprus who managed to separate just a little bit and took the first set by 25-22.

The second set marked the dominance of Hungary where they had five kill blocks. They were in the lead in the beginning of the set (4-8) but then Cyprus managed to get back in the game and equalized the set (14-14). Only at the end the Hungarian team managed to separate again and took the set by 22-25.

Cyprus returned their dominance from the first set in the third one. With five points of the advantage (10-5), which later on grew to an eight-point advantage (15-7), Cyprus was showing once again why they are in this semifinal. The Hungarian team tried to get back up and reduced the advantage to 15-13 but it was Cyprus who secured another set, this time by 25-23.

The fourth set looked quite similar to the previous one, whereas Cyprus was showing all of its colors and were completely in charge of the match. With 17-11 on the scoreboard, they were in a good position of taking this set as well, which they managed to do by 25-21.

What’s next?

Latvia is now waiting for their opponent in the finals and on Saturday when the second semifinal match between Cyprus and Hungary is taking place, we will know who it is. Don’t miss out on all the action live on EuroVolley.TV!

#Volleyball