Volleyball

Team Austria books #EuroVolleyU20M spot for first time since 1984!

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Article Sat, Apr 6 2024

Team Austria has qualified for the Final Round of this year’s #EuroVolleyU20M due to take place in Serbia and Greece. On Saturday evening, head coach Markus Hirczy’s mentees defeated Belgium in the final match contested at the Stadtwerke-Hartberg-Halle in front of about 400 enthusiastic fans, doing so in four tough sets (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 25-23). Therefore, the hosts finished the qualifier with a perfect record of three wins in as many matches. Austria has qualified for the #EuroVolleyU20M Final Round for the first time since the 1984 edition! 

Austria's top scorer Benedikt Sablatnig erupts in joy after his side's victory over Belgium

“We felt a little tired from the first two intense matches against Spain and Denmark. Besides that, Belgium performed extremely well today. But from the third set onwards it was a really good performance from us. A big thank you to the fantastic home crowd. Unbelievable, we have qualified for the #EuroVolleyU20M!”

Benedikt Sablatnig
Austria's top scorer

Earlier in the afternoon, Spain needed 75 minutes only to claim a compelling 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-16) win over underdogs Denmark. As a result, the Spanish side secured the second place in the final standing of the group. “We played very well today. We were strong in defence and in attack. That was decisive,” Spain’s head coach Ricardo Maldonado explained.

The winners of the five second-round qualifiers plus the three runners-up with the best result across all five pools will qualify for the Final Round of this year’s #EuroVolleyU20M. Spain still stands a chance of qualifying depending on the results coming in from the other groups due to end on Sunday. 

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