Finland defeats Slovenia by 3-2 in 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship match
The last quarter-final of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship took place between Finland and Slovenia on September 14. The competition that followed was intense and invigorated the crowds as it went on for five grueling sets. By the time the day
was done, Finland had secured a win over Slovenia by 3-2.
The Slovenians and the Finns both fell to making errors in the opening set of the game but Slovenia proved to be more prone to mistakes. The second set saw Slovenia come into their stride and equalise the match. The third set was bagged by Finland with the
help of their superior attacking skills but the Slovenians took the match to a decisive fifth set by sealing the deal on the fourth. However, the Finns proved to be the better side as they secured the fifth set and won the match at the following final set
scores: 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 18-25 and 15-12.
The Finnish coach, Daniel Castellani, proudly talked about his team at the press conference after the match in the following manner: “We really played one ball after the other and didn’t lose confidence in the critical situations. Our experience was the
crucial factor in the tie-break.”
On the other hand, Tuomas Sammelvuo of Finland, shared his views in the following manner: “In this phase of a tournament, just wins matter. We won so that’s a very good result for us, but there are still things to improve.”
The first set of the game saw both Slovenia and Finland commit errors but then the Finns managed to step up their defence which restricted the scoring of the Slovenians while the Finns increased their attacking efforts to get the advantage. Once they had
the lead in the later part of the frame, the Finns did not look back until they had secured the opening set at 25-18.
The Slovenians were able to cater to the defence of the Finns in the second set and this enabled them to get the lead at 16-10. Slovenia battled on until they had the set at 25-21. Finland got the lead at the start of the third set but Slovenia was able
to get the advantage at 17-14. However, Finland did not let go of the chase and managed to secure the third set at 25-23. The fourth set was dominated by the Slovenians and they were able to easily make a win at 25-18. The fifth set saw the Finns take the
lead at 3-0. A good start gave Finland all the confidence that they required to bag the final set at 15-12.
The player that was able to score the most points for Finland squad Mikko Oivanen with a total of 22 points while the top scorer on the Slovenian side was Alen Sket.
Tags: