Recap of classification matches for 5-8 positions – 2011 CEV Girls Youth European Championship
The final round of the 2011 CEV Girls’ Youth European Championship rounded off on Sunday, May 8, 2012.
A total of 12 teams installed their bases in the Turkish city Ankara and staged wonderful performances on the podiums of TVF Sports Complex.
The tournament reached its end on Sunday and featured the most influential matches of the championship. The “final four” matches defined the top four teams, while classification matches for positions from 5-8 were also played on the same day. Slovakia and
Poland fought for 5th slot in the ranking, while Spain and Greece were up for the 7th Slot.
Poland vs. Slovakia 3-0 (26-24, 25-11, and 25-15)
Polish team started off powerfully as the strong serves of Aleksandra created trouble for Slovakian receivers. Poles really sparked on the scene with their early points. Slovakia struggled to catch up with the speed of opponents but trailed behind Poland
at the first technical timeout.
Poland’s captain girls Iga Chojnacka kept her team focused on victory and put up a combined effort. Meanwhile, the Slovakian squad hit some nice shots and tried to chase the score. They came very close to Polish score at the second technical timeout.
However, Poland denied their efforts and further widened the gap of points. The first set swiftly inched its way to the end and Poland captured the set by posting 26-24.
The failure in opening set fired-up Slovakian team. They entered the second set with an ambition to cover the deficit of previous set. Anyhow, the charged-up Polish girls did not allow them to come up.
The better combination of attack and defence helped Poles to build a strong lead on the Slovakian side. Slovakia lagged behind with a huge margin of 9 points at the second technical timeout. Slovakia badly failed to put up with heavy strike of crosscourt
shots from Polish side. Second set also came successful for Poland and they extended their lead to 2-0 by winning the second set.
Poland was in strong position after capturing the first two sets of the game. They made a stunning start in third set and picked up a lead of 8-3. They remained on the winning track and dominated the Slovakian side. Polish Team launched its authority on
the challengers and claimed victory by winning third set of the match. Poland got hold of the fifth-slot in ranking, while Slovakia was pushed into sixth-slot.
Spain vs. Greece 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-21, and 29-27)
Spain got hold of the 7th position in the 2011 CEV Girls’ Youth European Championship. Spanish squad finally created a bit sensation for their fans and captured their last match of the tournament. Spain defeated Greece in a four-set match on Sunday, 8th May.
The mentor of Spanish team, Jose Miguel Serrato expressed his views after the match.
He stated, “My players are very tired and they did not have any motivation for this game but we are happy that we finally won.”
Likewise, his counterpart Greek head Coach Karolina Barzouka said, “It was not a good match because none of the teams was really motivated. So finally Spain won because they made fewer mistakes.”
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