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Last four teams book tickets to EuroVolley quarterfinals
In Tuesday’s first playoff match at Gerry
Weber Stadium in Halle/Westphalia, Turkey booked their ticket for the
quarterfinals by sweeping Belarus 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-17). In front of 2.900
fans, Seda Tokatlioglu topped the scorers with 20 points, followed by teammate
Bahar Toksoy with 14 kills. Turkey head coach Massimo Barbolini: “We played a
good match with strong serves and solid blocking. With today’s win, we reached
our first goal at EuroVolley 2013.” In the second playoff match at Gerry Weber
Stadium, Croatia overpowered the Netherlands in a thrilling five-set thriller
(23-25, 25-11, 22-25, 25-23, 15-12) to claim their well-deserved quarterfinal
ticket at 2013 CEV Volleyball European Championship for women. Mira Topic was
the best scorer of the game, contributing 18 points for Croatia’s hard-earned
win. Sanja Popovic added six block winners to the Croatian triumph. Croatia
captain Sanja Popovic: “It was a hard game. Both teams were equal all the way
long. At the end, very small details made the difference.” In Zurich’s playoff round, world No. 4 Italy
proved too strong for Poland (25-22, 25-22, 25-13) while France overcame the
Czech Republic after an outstanding comeback (20-25, 9-25, 25-23, 25-23,
20-18). The Italians answered the critics of their home press with a
straight-set win over Poland. The Polish squad could not deal with Italy’s
power and organization, thus never finding their way into the game. Italy’s
Valentina Diouf and Valentina Costagrande scored 15 points each while Maja
Tokarska booked 10 kills for Poland. Italy middle-blocker Valentina Arrighetti:
“We needed a strong reaction after our loss against Belgium. I am sure
everybody saw our answer tonight. I am happy with the performance of our team.
Our win was the result of strong teamwork.” World No. 42 France defeated the Czech
Republic in a dramatic five-set thriller 20-25, 9-25, 25-23, 25-23, 20-18. Two
sets down, the team of head coach Fabrice Vial saved four match balls before
seizing their second chance to conclude the hard-fought duel 20-18 in their
favour. France middle-blocker Christina Bauer: “Tonight’s game against the
Czechs was a roller coaster of emotions. There were those two awful sets and
then we completely changed. We played much more aggressively. I’m certainly
happy about my personal performance, but even more for helping my team in this
situation by tying the game after four Czech match balls.” The competition continues on Wednesday with eight
teams battling for the four semi-final spots. Quarterfinals: Germany v Croatia The winner
of the CEV Volleyball European Championship will qualify for the FIVB
Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup featuring a total of six teams per gender
with the hosts Japan being joined by the continental winners from Asia, Europe,
NORCECA and South America with an additional country selected by the FIVB.
Africa do not have an automatic spot in the tournament after finishing the 2012
Olympic Games as the lowest ranked confederation amongst the five. The World
Grand Champions Cup is a quadrennial round-robin competition for men and women.
The last edition of the tournament was in 2009 with Brazil coming away with the
men’s title for the second consecutive time after remaining unbeaten while in
the women’s tournament, Italy picked up their first ever crown. Japan will host
the next edition, with the women’s event set to take place from November 12 to
17, 2013 and the men’s from November 19 to 24, 2013. CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women World Ranking – Women (participating teams) For further information visit www.eurovolley2013.org and www.cev.lu for a
detailed match schedule of the playoff round.
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