Pre-favourites live up to their status in revamped European League
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It was important to regroup after the ups and downs from the day before – and the players of Team Romania were satisfied with their performances on Saturday as the CEV Volleyball European League continues with the first weekend of action. In the men’s tournament, the team led by Sergiu Stancu recovered from Friday’s heavy loss to Latvia with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-14) victory over Kosovo, while the women secured their second victory in as many matches – a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-23) over Israel. “We are going for it. Definitely! We want to win the tournament,” said Adelina Budai-Ungureanu, one of the leaders of the top-ranked team in the competition.
Team Romania had emerged at the top of the standings at the end of the League Round last season, but eventually finished third after contesting two five-set matches during the Final Four in Sweden. The team led by Guillermo Naranjo Hernandez also starts this season as one of the main favourites, but began the competition in Riga with two sets lost against Latvia, which they managed to overcome only at the end of a tense fifth set. The performance in the second game against Israel was also uneven, but they managed to win in three sets.
“It was very challenging because we had a lot of ups and downs. I would even say more downs, but I am very proud of the girls. Despite all the difficulties, we got those two victories. We are trying to build something big here, but it takes time for everything to come together. I hope that in the next games we will be even better, we will play faster and cleaner Volleyball,” Romanian outside hitter Adelina Budai-Ungureanu called for patience. She scored 27 points against Latvia and added 16 more against Israel. A goal in the European League? “We are going for it! Definitely! We want to win the tournament. We just need to fix some aspects of our game, but we want to go as far as possible and win the competition.”
Slovakia, Sweden and Slovenia currently top the charts following two 3-0 wins in as many matches they contested this weekend in Schwechat, Baku and Bar, respectively. On Saturday, they did not leave any chances to Iceland, Estonia and Georgia, respectively. Hungary shares their position as they did just the same in their two matches with North Macedonia and Portugal contested in Vila do Conde, while Spain surprisingly conceded one set to Kosovo – just as Greece did across their two matches with Croatia and Lithuania.
In the men’s competition, Team Romania – quarterfinalists from the last EuroVolley held in 2023 – has high goals and hopes to show an even better performance in the continental championship to be held on home soil this coming September. However, the start with a three-set loss in the CEV European League game in Riga was not in the plans, but on Saturday they secured a convincing victory over Kosovo.
“I am satisfied because compared to the previous game, even though the fixture against Kosovo was a bit easier, we showed a different attitude and a different performance throughout the match. That is the positive from this game, and it is a good omen for the future,” said Romania’s head coach Sergiu Stancu after Saturday’s victory. “Yesterday against Latvia, we were not the best team on the court, without a doubt. Today it was important for us to show that we can be stronger. It was important to respond. We have been playing in the European League for five or six years now and we have usually done it well. The task is to win as many games as possible. Especially now, when the importance of points in the ranking has increased even more to qualify for the European and World Championships. We have been there in previous years and we want to return.”
Finland, Czechia, and the Netherlands – the top ranked teams in the competition – have all completed their duties for the weekend with a perfect record of two wins in as many matches. Last year’s Golden League winners Finland conceded a set to Montenegro, just as they had done the day before with Austria, and Czechia were initially caught off guard before responding well to beat Norway 3-1. The Netherlands looked ruthless in their matches with North Macedonia and Luxembourg, whereas Greece and Portugal bounced back from Friday’s losses to beat Azerbaijan and Iceland in straight sets. Israel and Estonia have two wins from two matches as well while Switzerland fought back from their loss to Spain to secure a 3-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.