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National Team News
On Friday, the Austrian women’s national team celebrated a crucial victory at the start of their CEV European Silver League home tournament in Amstetten. Head coach Roland Schwab’s squad beat Latvia 3-2 (25-16, 25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 15-10). With this result, Austria (12 points) remains in the race for a spot in the final. On Saturday, Switzerland (12) and Latvia (13) will face each other at the Johann-Pölz-Halle. The decisive match in the three-way battle for the final spots will take place on Sunday, when Austria meets Switzerland in the last match of the League Round.
For the first time this international season, Anamarija Galic, Aida Mehic, and returning player Srna Vardjan were in the lineup for Austria. In the first set, superior blocking and serving made the difference. Austria also dominated the net in the second set. After 52 minutes, Vardjan secured a 2-0 lead. But things did not go smoothly for the Schwab squad after that. Latvia pulled ahead and held on to their advantage. In the fourth set, Austria made fewer errors again, but lacked power in attack. Latvia played with more consistency and deservedly tied the match. In the tie-break, Austria regained control early and held on to the lead.
Best scorers were Srna Vardjan (17), Kora Schaberl (14), and Nina Nesimovic (13) for Austria, and Marta Kamelija Levinska (27), Paula Neciporuka (15), and Anna Rita (9) for Latvia.
Srna Vardjan“I am a bit disappointed that we didn’t close the match earlier. There were too many unforced errors. With more time to train together, our game will become more fluid. Being here is an honour. I’m happy to be back.”
Setter Victoria Deisl: “I am incredibly happy that we still won after giving away the 2-0 lead. Latvia fought for every ball, but in the end we found our rhythm again. Now we will recover – and then we will be ready for Switzerland.”
Head coach Roland Schwab: “Overall, we lacked stability in reception. That made it tough for our setter. But the win is important – we are still in the race. On Sunday, we have to beat Switzerland.”
Latvia’s head coach Daniele Capriotti: “That one point is important. I am proud of how we came back. Tomorrow, we face possibly the best team. We will fight against Switzerland just like we did today – that’s for sure.”