Belarus' players have been in great form in Arnhem
Lausanne, Switzerland, April 5, 2017 – Belarus maintained their unbeaten run to reach the CEV Girls’ U18 European Volleyball Championship semifinals in Arnhem on Wednesday with their fourth win from four.
Poland currently sit behind them in second place in the pool, but are being chased hard by third-placed Serbia.
The four semifinalists will qualify for the Argentina 2017 FIVB Volleyball U18 Girls’ World Championship.
Belarus needed to dig deep to hold off Romania and win 3-2 (28-26, 27-29, 27-25, 18-25, 16-14). The win swung back and forth, but defence and blocking made the difference and eliminated Romania, despite their outside spiker Adelina Budai-Ungureanu leading scoring with 29 points.
“I am glad that we won the game and qualified for the semifinals,” Belarus coach Natallia Melianiuk said, “We already reached our first goal, the qualification for the World Championship, and have played a good tournament so far.”
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia Guides Poland enjoyed an emphatic 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-21) victory over Greece in which the Polish defence denied Greece’s attack on a number of occasions.
Poland’s opposite Julia Szczurowska led scoring with 16 points, followed by teammate and outside spiker Magdalena Stysiak with 13.
“We knew that we had to win this game to remain in the race for the semi-finals,” Poland coach Grzegorz Wagner. “We improved our reception and attack and deserved the win. The most important game is against Belarus tomorrow. It is a very strong team and we have to refresh our mind for this match. I hope that we can win it.’’
Serbia also enjoyed a straight-sets victory, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-20) against Slovenia. Serbia took early control of the match and didn’t let go. Serbia’s outside spiker Jovana Mirosavljevic topped scoring with 19 points.
“We played a good game, which was better compared to yesterday,” Serbia coach Jovo Cakovic said. “But I think that my players can reach an even higher level. We have to do our homework tomorrow and want to win against Greece. Unfortunately, it is not just in our hands, but we believe in our chances of qualifying for the semifinals.’’
For more information on the tournament, head to the
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