Croatia qualify for 2011 CEV Women's European Volleyball Championship
Last weekend saw enough happening in the sport of volleyball as teams of both genders played their qualification matches for the 2011 CEV European Championship. The better teams rose up on the horizon by delivering mesmerizing performances and confirmed their participation in the next year’s big volleyball extravaganza.
France’s women team crushed Finland while in the men’s section Turkey cruised past Greece by posting a great victory.
As for other women’s teams, Belgium and Croatia struggled to gain reputation as winners. They played two qualification matches and Croatia emerged as the winner at the end of second match on Saturday. The Belgian city of Antwerp was the centre of this volleyball action and home crowd certainly expected a good and solid performance from their home team. However, Belgium had already suffered a setback in their first match as Croatia had claimed 3-1 victory over them.
Therefore, Belgium seemed to be playing a return match and they were required to demonstrate exceptional game in their second match against Croatia. They needed 3-1 or at-least 3-0 victory to stand a chance of playing in the 2011 CEV European Championship. Quite ironically, the buzz of home fans and team efforts went futile as Croatia launched its power in the court and snatched a 3-2 victory from the hosts, Belgium.
1st Set
Belgium opened the first set with great temperament and influenced the other side. They seemed to have learned a lesson from their previous defeat. The team maintained fine balance and produced good combination of defense and attack.
The players in the Croatian team exchanged positions and took time to settle down in the Belgian court. Moreover, they were playing in front of a different crowd this time. All such elements created a chance for Belgium to take their way from the rivals. The defense expert Bland Angie saved many points for Belgium by blocking Croatian spikes.
Renneboogh Joke and Leys also did a great job at serving the ball. They built a lead and won the first set with the margin of 10 points. Croatia collapsed after receiving 15-25.
2nd Set
Fun was over for the Belgium team after their first set as the Croatians bounced back during the second set. They developed a good timing and incorporated wonderful passes that earned them valuable points.
The second set had a completely different tone than the earlier one. Croatia was all over the scene; they focused on their defense-line and improved on their ball-reception errors. The Croatian star Usic Jugunica Senna shocked the spectators with his amazing shots. The score slightly shifted to the finishing line and Croatia surfaced a second set win by posting 25-21.
3rd Set
The calamity didn’t stop here. Instead, it accompanied the Belgian girls in the third set as well. They failed to achieve good status and ball landed in their court for most of the times while Croatia poised their feet on solid ground and continued with their success. The better block showed them their way to a 3rd set win and declared Croatia as a winner at 25-22.
4th Set
Croatia were bummed out after achieving successes in the 2nd and 3rd set but Belgium didn’t seem ready to accept their rival’s authority yet again. Croatians pulled off 14-8 lead in the early minutes of the 4th set as Belgium struggled and returned in the game.
The Belgian players got their best talents out and leveled the score at the end of second technical timeout (TTO). The powerful strike of Usic enabled them 4th set victory as scoreboard stuck 25-23.
Final Set
The game was leveled by Belgian victory in the fourth set but still statistics changed in the fifth set. Croatia proved to be the better team and claimed match victory. Resultantly, they qualified for the 2011 CEV European Championship.
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