Team Austria records second win in #EuroVolleyU20M home qualifier
News
Team Austria emerged victorious from their second match of the #EuroVolleyU20M qualifiers on Friday evening. The hosts defeated underdogs Denmark at the Stadtwerke-Hartberg-Halle in front of an enthusiastic crowd 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-13). Best scorers after about two very exciting hours of volleyball action were Denmark’s opposite hitter Kristoffer Nørager Bisgaard (28 points) and Austria’s Benedikt Sablatnig (21). On Saturday, head coach Markus Hirczy’s team will clash with Belgium, while the Danes will face Spain.
Lukas Glatz“We started very well, but the Danes were even better and did not make any mistakes. Fortunately, with the fantastic home crowd behind us, we were able to come back in the third set and finally clinched the second win after beating Spain 3-1 on Thursday."
Captain of Team Austria
“Austria is a very strong team. We do not have much experience at this high level. We were able to stop them in the first two sets, but in the end, I think, it was the lack of experience that made the difference,” commented Denis Janka, head coach of Denmark.
Earlier in the afternoon, Spain celebrated a 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22) win against Belgium. As a result, the Spanish side kept alive their chances of participating in the #EuroVolleyU20M. Both teams are now level on one win and three points each - two points behind Austria. “It was a tough match. We were a little confused at the beginning, but from the second set onwards we played very well in block-defence,” Spain’s head coach Ricardo Maldonado explained. On Saturday, his team will face Denmark.
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 due to take place in Serbia and Greece.