European League 2010

Constanta, Romania, July 6, 2010. With the water of the Danube being expected to reach a new historic maximum level this coming weekend, the double clash starring Romania and Serbia will try to generate similarly high expectations across the Volleyball fans in Constanta. Romania recently won a single set in the double-headers with Bulgaria and Serbia in the last six games and is looking desperately for more points in front of the home crowd. On the other side, Serbia will need to score a couple of victories against Romania to maintain the leadership in Pool A and travel next week to Gabrovo, Bulgaria, without any pressure.
So, the Romanian pride could be influential in determining the standings for the final four of the 2010 CEV European League. This weekend there will be another confrontation between two of the three Serbian coaches starring Pool A, namely Darko Zakoc for Romania and Zoran Terzic for Serbia respectively (the third one being Dragan Nesic, the current mentor of Bulgaria’s national team).
The double-header between Romania and Serbia will take place on July 10-11, in the Sports Hall of Constanta, starting from 20:30 (local time).

Click here for a detailed schedule of the 2010 CEV European League

Gabrovo, Bulgaria, July 8, 2010. The pretty Balkan mountain town of Gabrovo is ready to host this weekend another double-header for the 2010 CEV European League as the women’s national team of Great Britain is expected to arrive today for two matches with Pool A current leaders Bulgaria.Dragan Nesic’s “lionesses” shut out Great Britain twice already in Crawley and are looking to repeat their performance in Gabrovo. After winning seven out of eight games so far, Bulgaria is the clear favorite against the visiting team that has won only one set so far in the competition. However, two victories for Bulgaria would wipe out even the slightest theoretical chances of missing the final four in Ankara, so coach Nesic has no intention of underestimating the importance of winning the upcoming fixtures.
“We are looking forward to welcoming Great Britain with great desire and impatience,” he said. “These matches should give me a chance to grant all of my players some time on the court. Those who played less in the previous games now will play more. This does not mean that I am expecting an easy task against Great Britain. The team has been showing tremendous growth week after week, which proves that its participation in the CEV European League makes its sense. I plan to enter both matches with experienced Antonina Zetova as starting opposite, which is probably not good news for our opponents”.
This inaugural visit of the Great Britain team to Bulgaria has generated quite an interest among local fans and the Orlovets hall in Gabrovo should get pretty crowded on Saturday and Sunday as it did last week for the matches with Romania.

Ankara, Turkey, July 9, 2010. This weekend the European League - Pool B resumes in Turkey with a match starring the women’s national teams of Greece and Turkey. The venue will be once again the brand-new and majestic “Baskent” sports hall. After a tiring training camp and through some strong sessions the local girls are ready for the matches. They have been working hard especially for the final four that is set to take place in Ankara next July 24-25.
Italian-born coach Alessandro Chiappini says: “We played with Greece before this leg and we know them. We were thinking positive about Greece. Of course all our work is performed for the final four. In this way, we are much stronger now. I feel that our fans will enjoy two very exciting matches. We need to win in front of our local fans”.
Captain Esra Gümüş adds: “We are really excited to play at home. We have been working very much for this. I know that many people will watch us and I want to give a gift to our great spectators. I believe that we will win”.

Ra’anana, Israel, July 9, 2010. With the Pool phase quickly approaching to its close, Israel defeated this afternoon Spain 3:1 in Ra’anana (25-22, 20-25, 25-22 and 25-17). After a break that did last for two weeks – with the matches against Turkey having been canceled – Israel was back on court this afternoon and did display a very good performance in front of the home fans.
Two weeks ago in Ayamonte Spain had defeated Israel twice, first 3:1 and then 3:2. Today the hosts found back the right tempo even though Spain enjoyed the best start in the opening set (5:7 and 8:10 for the guests). Israel stormed back to lead 18:13 and then clip the set 25-22. The Spanish side tied the match (20-25) but the Israelis did not surrender and eventually claimed the next two sets 25-22 and 25-17. Russian-born Anna Velikiy was the best scorer of the match with 29 points well supported by Tatiana Artmenko (21).
The two teams will play each other once again at 7 pm local time.

Turkey 3-1 Greece (21-25,25-12,25-17, 25-17)

We didn't play very good especially 1st set..Greece girls shoked us and they managed to take 1st set.Congratulations to 2 team

Eda Erdem: 21 points=9 spike,6 block ,6 ace
Neriman Özsoy: 16 points= 14 spike (%47) ,2 block
Neslihan Darnel: 15 points= 10 spike (30-10 ), 3 block, 2 ace
Meryem Boz: 11 points= 10 spike ,1 block (She was good at reception)
Bahar Toksoy: 7 points = 4 spike(6-4) , 3 block
Nihan Yeldan: 19 reception 3 mistakes (%68,excellent %68 )

Ankara, Turkey, July 10, 2010. This weekend the European League resumed to Ankara with the double-header starring the women’s national team of Greece and Turkey. The local heroines delighted their audience with a 3:1 victory (21-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-17) to find the right confidence before the final four that will take place on that same venue in two weeks.
The start of the match was extremely contentious (5:5) and Greece claimed the slimmest margin at the first mandatory stop (8:7). Both teams were playing really well and another tie was to be seen at 10. Neslihan Darnel for Turkey and Aikaterina Giota for Greece were extremely effective with their attacks. At 24:19 for Greece, Turkey’s coach Alessandro Chiappini asked for a break but it did not help and Greece clipped the first set 25-21.
The local girls started the second set with the right tempo (4:1) and maintained their lead also at the first technical break (8:5). This margin was significantly stretched (16:9) and Turkey kept on scoring for the 21:11. Turkey had an easy way and the final 25-12 was there only a few minutes later. Meryem Boz, one of the youngest players included in the Turkish roster, played very well and helped her team in pulling out a consistent 17:10 lead in the third set. Eda Erdem stayed in the serving area for 9 rallies in a row and Turkey snared that set 25-17. The hosts maintained the right pace also in the opening of the fourth set (8:4), Neriman Özsoy did her job well and it was 11:4 for Turkey when coach Caprara took his first time-out. Superstar Neslihan Darnel was on the scene again and even though the Turks relaxed a little bit, still they did not have to wait too long before they could celebrate their final 3:1.

Gabrovo, Bulgaria, July 10, 2010. In a very interesting 2010 CEV European League match Bulgaria’s women overcame visiting Great Britain in four sets – 3:1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-16, 25-21) at the crowded Orlovets hall in Gabrovo. The second set of the game was only the second in favour of the island girls since the start of the competition.
Bulgaria’s head coach Dragan Nesic did not keep his promise to use veteran star Antonina Zetova as a starting player in this fixture. Almost the entire starting squad of the Southern Europeans consisted of young players with Strashimira Filipova resting this weekend and captain Eva Yaneva remaining in the corner.
Despite quite a few serving mistakes, Great Britain demonstrated some very smart offensive play in the first set and was up by 4 points at the second technical time-out. After that two consecutive counterattacks by Bulgaria’s setter Diana Nenova reduced the gap to help the host team persevere through the set and win it by 25-22. The second set was by far the most interesting one. The British had a 6-point advantage at 9:15 and 12:18. The equilibrium was re-established at 19 points each, but soon after the visiting team regained momentum to a 3-point advantage at set point. An excellent ace by Tsvetelina Zarkova and two consecutive spikes by Elitsa Vasileva tied the set at 24, only to be followed by a long serve for Bulgaria and an ace by Britain’s Grace Carter for the final 24-26. This seemed to have upset the Lionesses in their own den and they managed a convincing 25-16 in the third set. Head Coach Audrey Cooper’s girls, however, had no intention of surrendering that fast. They took a 4-point lead at 10:14 to prompt Bulgarian captain Yaneva onto the field. This re-injected the needed confidence among the young Bulgarian players and they flipped the score around to close the set at 25-21.
“I am coming out of this match with mixed emotions,” coach Cooper stated after the game. “First, I am very happy with the performance, especially with our offense in the first two sets. At the same time, I am disappointed that we did not go into a fifth set when we would have had the upper hand. We lost a little bit of composure at the end, but my team played very well today. I have to be happy. I hope we have the same passion tomorrow.”
Compliments for the team of Great Britain also came from coach Nesic: “Very good defence, very good serving… by far Great Britain’s best match from all the videos we have been watching. We played with a very young squad today, but this is part of our plan looking into the Final Four. Our reception was very bad today. When we improve this element, we will be a world-class team. I intend to start tomorrow’s game with the same players.”
Britain’s Janine Sandell was today’s top scorer of the match with 17 points. Emiliya Nikolova and Dobriana Rabadzhieva scored 16 each for Bulgaria.

Results
Bulgaria vs. Great Britain 3:1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-16, 25-21)

Gabrovo, Bulgaria, July 11, 2010. Bulgaria secured a berth for the final four of the 2010 CEV Women's European League after defeating Great Britain in straight sets - 3:0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) - at a packed Orlovets hall in Gabrovo. Even if the team ends up runner-up in Pool A, it will qualify for Ankara as the best-ranked second-placed team.
Bulgarian head coach Dragan Nesic surprisingly started the match with Mariya Karakasheva in the untypical role of opposite. Other than that, Bulgaria's young starting line-up was the same as yesterday. Later, in the first set, another typical receiver, star player Eva Yaneva, replaced Karakasheva to stay in play as opposite for the rest of the match. In the meantime, Great Britain's coach Audrey Cooper went with the starting seven from yesterday's match, but all of her 12 players appeared on court at some point of the game. The visiting team made another strong performance today, but the Bulgarians were a lot more focused on not allowing any more sets to go Great Britain's way. The Lionesses improved their play in all components of the game and managed to achieve a seven-point advantage at the end of every set. Dobriana Rabadzhieva became the match top scorer with 19 points for Bulgaria. Lynne Beattie scored 14 for Great Britain.
"Congratulations to Bulgaria and good luck at the Final Four," GB captain Lynne Beattie stated after the match. "We gave our 100% and we deserved to win at least one set. However, Bulgaria stepped up the game today and made it much tougher for us."
Bulgaria's captain Eva Yaneva was happy to have taken part in this important game after having rested for a few days. "We played well today," she added. "The team was more concentrated and without the pressure that was felt in yesterday's match. We are aiming at the first place in the Final Four and winning the European League."

Stats Photos

I thought that Final four semis would be A1 vs B2 and B1 vs A2, but no, it will be decided by the Drawing of Lots, which will be held on Monday. So it can as well be A1 vs B1. That makes the matches between Bulgaria and Serbia next weekend totaly meaningless. I don't know why CEV didn't stick with crossed semi-finals like last year.

Drama, Greece, July 15, 2010. In Drama’s Athletic Center "D. Krahtidis” Greece’s women’s national team is getting ready to play the last two games in Pool B of the 2010 CEV European League against Israel. Even though the hosting team has no chance of participating in next week’s final four round, the visitors have much to expect from the double clash on Friday and Saturday. Israel is still a strong candidate for a ticket to Ankara. This, however, doesn’t mean that the girls of Giovanni Caprara are not going to give a battle to end the competition with positive results. “We will do our best to finish our last two games victoriously” said team captain Nikoletta Koutouxidou. “We have played against Israel more than a month ago, in Ra’anana, without managing to win, but I think that we are in a better condition. It’s a team that isn’t that much stronger than us and if we can play at a high level, I believe we can achieve positive results. We want to celebrate some wins before we say ‘goodbye’ to the competition” she concluded.
From his side, the Italian head coach Giovanni Caprara promised: “We’ll try to do our best. I’m happy with what my players have been showing me lately”.
Currently, Israel is on the second place of Pool B with 16 points. Spain, who is facing the leader of the Pool and host of the final four, Turkey, has the same points. It looks like it’s going to be a close call on who qualifies, so look out for the clashes in Drama and Ankara!

Click here for more information about these games and provisional standings of Pool B

Gabrovo, Bulgaria, July 15, 2010. The last two fixtures in Pool A of the 2010 CEV Women’s European League are due to take place this weekend in Gabrovo. The double-header between hosts Bulgaria and current pool leaders Serbia is expected to fill up the Orlovets hall with even more spectators than the record attendances that were registered over the last two competition weekends when the Lionesses entertained Romania and Great Britain respectively. It is only normal that the visit of neighboring Serbia that ranked third in the last World Championship is generating some great interest among Volleyball fans not only in Gabrovo.
The two Balkan Peninsula countries that will meet at the foot of the Balkan Mountains have both already secured tickets to the Final Four tournament in Turkey. With equal points on top of the table, all Bulgaria and Serbia have to decide this Saturday and Sunday is who ends up first in Pool A. With the additional charge coming from the fact that the Bulgarian team is head coached by Serbian specialist Dragan Nesic, these clashes would be set to turn into real battles, if the first place in the Pool actually gave some tangible benefits to its holder.
“Unfortunately, with the semi-final fixtures being decided by the Drawing of Lots, these matches are meaningless,” Nesic regrets. “It does not matter if we end up first or second in the pool, so it is hard to find the necessary motivation. However, as a thank-you to the spectators in Gabrovo that have been great to us, we will try to play two interesting games.”

Ankara, Turkey, July 15, 2010. This weekend the European League - Pool B resumes in Turkey with the double header starring the local heroines and Spain. These are the last matches before the European League finals scheduled for next week in Turkey’s capital city.
Coach Alessandro Chiappini says: “We are working very hard on our physical condition. We also had long sessions to work on the technique and improve some individual skills. We finally start playing like a real team. During the European League matches I appreciate what the players did on the court because they always fight. Spain is a team with more experience than Greece which was our opponent last week. It will be more difficult to play with them. But I think our physical condition will be better because we changed our work system. Today we started the second part of our preparation. After the cancellation of the matches with Israel, we had just four games before the final and because of this we must do our best to get into the right shape”.
Captain Esra Gümüş adds: “The match with Spain is the last test for us before the finals. We are automatically qualified for the final four but anyway it is an important match for us. Last year we couldn’t take the cup but this year we want to be the champion in front of our spectators. For this year, our first aim is to take this cup. Our camp continued really good and I think we will be successful in our campaign”.

Click here for more information about these matches

Matches ELW-31/-32 and ELW-43/-44 are scheduled with the special agreement of both opponents. The matches ELW-35/-36 and ELW-39/-40 were cancelled due to the sensitive situation between the countries by the decision of the CEV Executive Committee. TURKEY as organizer of the Final Four0 is automatically qualified. The final ranking of this pool to determine the best ranked team of the pool to qualified for the Final Four will only take in account the matches played between the teams of ISRAEL, SPAIN & GREECE.

http://www.cev.lu

Right now:
1- Spain 6W-2L (19-11)
2 -Israel 4 W-2L (15-8 )
3- Greece 0W- 6L (3-18 )

Better application from CEV.Hope Spain will play in F4.They deserved it.

Hope Spain wins one of the games in Ankara and make it to the final four.

Spain-Turkey matches are not important,we can just wait a Greece win between Israel-Greece matches.

Quote from StarNight

Spain-Turkey matches are not important,we can just wait a Greece win between Israel-Greece matches.

Yes, go Greece!! you can help us friends

Good Luck Israel Get this ticket

Quote from elchicha

Yes, go Greece!! you can help us friends

Come on girrlllss!!! Get the ticket to Turkey!! We are waiting youu Go Spain!!

Quote from Bartek

Good Luck Israel Get this ticket

What Israel??With five players of ex-Soviet Union?And i can not understand why some countries of Asia like Israel must play in European League.

I hope to see Marisa Fernandez to the final four...