Estonia sweeps Portugal in a Pool B match of 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship
The Pool B matches of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship are being held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic and a Pool B matches took place between Estonia and Portugal on September 12th. The resulting clash ended after the Estonia men’s national
volleyball team completed a clean sweep over Portugal.
The first set of the match remained tight all through as neither team was backing off from the attack. However, it was the Estonians that sped up in the end to win the opening set. The loss of the first set got the spirits of the Portuguese down as their
performance dropped in the second set. A two set deficit got the Portuguese playing hard in the third set but the Estonians had their momentum built and they sealed the deal on the match at the following final set scores: 25-23, 25-17 and 25-22.
The captain of the Estonian team, Kert Toobal, made the following comments after his team had won the match: “Our goal was to qualify for the next round. We had been practicing for the complete summer to get ready for such a deciding match. And what worked
today? Apart from our good performance, I assume our opponents must have been tired after two difficult matches. We hope to do our best in the next game against one of the teams coming from Prague”.
The first set of the match started off with an Estonian lead at 15-10. The Portuguese were not overwhelmed and responded by putting on a spurt of speed that gave them the advantage at 22-19. However, the Estonians were bent upon the chase and were successful
to end the opening frame on their terms at 25-23. The Estonians players who played a significant part in the win were Oliver Venno and Ardo Kreek while on the Portuguese side Flavio Rodolfo Cruz and Valdir Sequeira remained most active.
Realizing their mistakes from the first set, the Estonians did not repeat their errors in the second frame and came out strong from the beginning. They were able to rain down forceful kills on the Portuguese side that de-motivated them and finally gave the
set to the Estonians in a short period of time at 25-17.
The third set was tied at 9-9 and both teams put on a good show in the later stages. However, it was the Estonian side that was able to bag the third set of the game at 25-22.
With their recent win, the Estonian team has been able to head on to the quarter-finals of the championship. Winning the match was a morale booster for the Estonians as Portugal had won the European League in 2010.
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