CEV Volleyball Update: Recap of the 2010 Junior European Championship Belarus
The Junior European Volleyball Championship kicked off in Belarus and two pools of six teams each hit the podium on 28th August 2010. The tournament will complete its run during this week and final match will be played on Sunday, 5th September 2010. The squad includes teams from Serbia, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, host Belarus and France. The early phase of the game staged breath-taking volleyball games and attracted huge masses of fans in arenas. The volleyball action has now entered in final round of the championship.
Spain vs. Italy
Spain and Italy opened the championship by playing the first match. The opening match kept both teams busy in an extremely demanding five-set game. The Spaniards exhibited a lovely game and crashed the Italian side. They posted 3-2 victory over Italy and booked a spot for them in the next day fixtures. Italians had a good start in the game, as they captured the first set with the margin of five points (25-20). The Spanish aces fought back and answered the Italian strike. Second set was won by Spain, as they finished the set at 25-17. Spain produced the same output in third set and overcame Italy by sending 25-16.
In 4th set, Spain suffered a set-back on account of frequent serve errors and wrong placement, which earned advantage to Italy. Spain was treated with a score of 20-25 and set ended with Italy’s success. The game touched the most crucial phase of the match with the start of fifth set. The match venue was captured by approximately 500 spectators, who turned their heads up to witness the final kill from any side. Spain sparked in the need of hour and quickly managed to steal points from Italy. The gradual shift of points showed them the path to match-victory when final set ended at 18-16.
Belarus vs. Bulgaria
The second match of the day saw host nation coping with the visitor Bulgaria. The match took place in a totally sold out arena. Around 1250 people had come to watch their favourite teams in a battle. Belarus pleased the followers with first set victory by polling 25-20 but situation drastically changed then. Bulgaria seemed to set on fire, as they restricted Belarus to a low performance in next sets. They won the second and third set to create a lead in the game. The local supporters were held in an utter shock by the collapse of their team. Bulgaria completely diminished Belarus’ chances with fourth-set victory. Belarus received 1-3 (25-20, 21-25, 18-25, and 18-25) defeat from Bulgaria. The audience left upset minded as they couldn’t get a chance to celebrate the victory of their team.
Serbia vs. France
The third match on the first day of CEV Junior European Championship was played between Serbia and France. The turnout was low and emptiness of the hall was evident as only 250 people came to watch the match. Serbia clean-swept in the match and posted a 3-0 victory over the French team. Serbian players generated good pace in the game which helped them build an early lead. The consistency of serves and commanding shots earned them first-set victory with a margin of six points (25-18). The fired-up team of France resisted Serbian attack and killed their spikes to save points. The French team remained persistent but actually couldn’t avoid 31-29 defeat in the second set. Two-set victory boosted Serbian players’ morale and rushed to score points in the third set. The battle was won by Team Serbia on account of their hard work and dedication in the game.
Three matches were scheduled to stage on the next day. The winning and loser teams played their second-day matches with new teams.
Tags: