European League 2010

    Maybe games Turkey Israel should be in other country. In game info matches is not 3-0 for first or second country so maybe it be like I write.

    Maybe games Turkey Israel should be in other country. In game info matches is not 3-0 for first or second country so maybe it be like I wrote.

    Bulgaria confident before first home clashes in European League



    Sofia, Bulgaria, June 29, 2010. Bulgaria’s national women’s Volleyball team has already re-assembled on home ground in Gabrovo getting ready for its first 2010 CEV European League clashes to take place in Bulgaria. The team already played all its away matches and returned home with a 5-1 record that gives the coaches and the players the confidence they need to make the decisive steps towards the Final Four.
    This week, on Thursday and Friday, Bulgaria entertains Romania for two games at the Orlovets hall at the foot of the Balkan mountain. The two teams met twice three weeks ago in Constanta and the visiting Lionesses did not allow the Romanians to clip a single set. This, however, does not imply that the upcoming clashes in Gabrovo will be easy for Dragan Nesic’s team. For the Romanians, who considered themselves pre-tournament favorites, this is practically the last chance to get back on track for the Final Four and losing even one match will place them completely off target. That is why the fans in Gabrovo should expect quite a battle. The last time Bulgaria and Romania met head-to-head before the 2010 CEV European League was also in Gabrovo about a year ago when after a 3-1 win the Lionesses secured first place in Pool F of the 2nd round of the World Championship qualifications.
    Head coach Dragan Nesic and team captain Eva Yaneva gave a well-attended press conference in Sofia yesterday to share their thoughts on the upcoming European League home matches. “I am happy that we perform at good level despite losing the first game in Serbia when refereeing mistakes tipped the outcome their way” Yaneva said. “This motivated us for the second match. We are proud that we have outplayed all our opponents so far”. Nesic concluded: “There are no weak opponents in our pool, but we are very strong and that is why we have been winning. We are becoming a team with a serious weight, very close to top European level, and I expect that Bulgaria will be in the Final Four”.
    During the press conference Nesic and the Lionesses were awarded respectively as Bulgaria’s Coach and Team of the month of May for qualifying for the final round of the 2011 CEV European Championship having beaten the football and basketball champions of the country in a media poll.

    "Lo sbaglio più grande e quello di credere di aver vinto prima ancora di giocare la partita"

    Can I ask you something guys?


    I mean, the World is already full of problems, humans, politics, diplomacy.....and is really important to keep an eye on that, and keep knowing what is happening...


    but I think better if we could take this place here to talk about the sport we all love, and have fun...I think is better if we let this space for this. I know that the situation end getting involved with the volleyball, and that is why all started, but from now I think we could come back talking about volley...what you think? All in peace ^^


    Thanks you in advance.... :flower:

    I totally agree with you! Thank you for your message! :flower: :drink:

    GB looks for more signs of progress against top Serbian team


    Sheffield, Great Britain, June 30, 2010. Great Britain’s coach Audrey Cooper knows her team will face a formidable task in the double-header with Serbia in the CEV European League at Ponds Forge in Sheffield this coming weekend. Still without a win in the competition, Cooper's side has to learn fast as they seek to make an impact on the international scene.
    There was some reward last weekend when the team took a set off Romania in Constanta - a match Cooper felt her team should have won. The head coach knows her team will compete for every ball this weekend as they seek to create an upset and she will take some hope from the fact Serbia lost to Bulgaria last weekend. GB troubled Bulgaria earlier in the competition with no reward and Cooper will be asking her side to stay focused in their last two home matches in the competition.
    "We experienced an absolutely amazing crowd in Serbia and that helped our team," Cooper says. "It's great to have people cheering, especially when you're struggling. The crowd knows when a team is pushing and still trying to save every point. You need people to get behind you and the Crawley crowd showed that in our last home matches”.
    Rachel Laybourne, raised in Sheffield, is a vital member of the squad and she knows her team will need to be at the top of their game to stretch the Serbians who are potential winners of the competition. "I believe the players who have been playing in Europe have come back better and it has taken us on a level," she argues. "It's a mental ability as well - you've played at a high level week-in, week-out and that can only help”.
    Kenny Barton, Performance Program Manager for British Volleyball, is hoping for a bumper crowd for GB’s matches this weekend. "With England now out of the World Cup in football, we are asking sports fans to shift their attention to Volleyball," he urges.
    "The World Cup is reaching its climax and the next major global sporting event is the Olympics in London in two years time so the countdown has started. Volleyball is a truly world sport but the GB teams have made outstanding progress over the last two or three years and we can now match some of Europe's best teams on court. We're hoping a lot of fans turn out on Saturday and Sunday as this will be the last chance they have of catching the GB teams in action this summer”.

    "Lo sbaglio più grande e quello di credere di aver vinto prima ancora di giocare la partita"

    Ankara will host women's final four in about four weeks
    2010 CEV European League - Women
    Luxembourg, July 1, 2010. The final four of this year’s CEV European League – Women will be played next July 24-25 at the “Baskent” sports hall in Ankara, Turkey. The venue was finalized in cooperation with the Turkish Volleyball Federation and this majestic facility – that was solemnly opened this past February – will welcome the top four teams in this competition for what promises to be a splendid Volleyball weekend.
    The “Baskent” hall represents the real “heart” of the Volleyball complex that the Turkish Federation has been developing in Ankara and already hosted some matches of the prelims in the 2010 CEV European League. The local girls, automatically qualified for the event, will try to improve on their runner-up position after having lost last year’s final match against Serbia in front of a massive home crowd in Kayseri.
    With Turkey being already in, one more team will qualify for the final four from Pool B whereas the two best ranked teams of Pool A – starring defending champions Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Great Britain – will also join the event.
    A detailed match schedule and program of the final four will follow in the next days.


    http://www.cev.lu

    Bulgaria shuts out Romania in Gabrovo


    Gabrovo, Bulgaria, July 1, 2010. The national women’s team of Bulgaria returned to the top of Pool A in the 2010 CEV European League after winning 3:0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-17) against Romania at the Orlovets hall in Gabrovo.
    The full house in this pretty town at the foot of the Balkan Mountain pumped up the Lionesses to rush into a 5:1 lead at the beginning of the first set with heavy attacking from captain Eva Yaneva. Young Elitsa Vasileva continued the bombardment from front row to up the score to 9:3. The Romanian team took advantage of some unfocused play from the host team for a comeback and reduced the gap to 9:8. This did not last long, however, and Bulgaria took a 5-point advantage at 18:13. Some perfect attacking from Romanian Alexandra Trica re-established the balance at 21:19, after which the home team did not allow the visitors any more comebacks and opposite Emiliya Nikolova closed the set at 25-21.
    The second set was even until 9:9, but after that the Lionesses piled up a 4-point advantage at the second technical time-out. With good serving from Nneka Onyejekwe Romania took four points in a row to equalize at 16. After the provisional 20:18 three successful attacks and a kill block from Eva Yaneva tipped the set Bulgaria’s way and a spike into the net by Romanian opposite Daiana Muresan finished the set at 25-19.
    After 8:8 in the third set Bulgaria completely dominated. Some excellent defending and counterattacking brought the next seven rallies in Bulgaria’s favour to allow head coach Dragan Nesic to let most of his reserve players enjoy some time on the court. Middle blocker Strashimira Filipova was the Lionesses’ main weapon in this decisive set. She scored 8 points to add to the 8 she already had from the previous two sets and become the game’s top scorer with 16 points. Three players – Alexandra Trica, Nneka Onyejekwe and captain Alina Albu scored 9 points each for Romania.
    “We are very happy to play in front of Gabrovo’s amazing crowd that filled the stands today,” Eva Yaneva said after the match. “We played a good match and I think we deserved the victory. I hope we play even better tomorrow and in the following weeks against Great Britain and Serbia”.
    The head coach of Romania Darko Zakoc congratulated the Bulgarian team for the high-level play and added: “Our team played bad. We have had some serious problems with our receivers throughout this European League and, on top of that, we had only one setter for this match which was a great challenge”.

    "Lo sbaglio più grande e quello di credere di aver vinto prima ancora di giocare la partita"

    I think that It's not only possible but we are very close to this bulgarian national team to finish first in his group A and to meet second team from other group in the Final Four. Will be perfect if Turkey and Serbia play together in the semifinal. We only need from one good victory in Gabrovo againnst Serbia .

    Quote from kadir_8

    Turkey will olay with their A team :drink: :super: ...Serbia will play with this roster or they will call Nikolic or Derisilo??

    i think that they will .... because the winner of european league 2010 goes to 2010 grand prix :woohoo: :cup: Go Turkey :) :dance6: :cheesy:

    It's the right time to shock hosts in their hall. I hope so Bulgaria to beat Turkey in the final and to qualify for the Grand Prix. Our team needs to play in this tournament because we miss every year to participate in this prestigous tournament.

    Quote from dido1302

    It's the right time to shock hosts in their hall. I hope so Bulgaria to beat Turkey in the final and to qualify for the Grand Prix. Our team needs to play in this tournament because we miss every year to participate in this prestigous tournament.

    Ok dido, you will win :) All sportive activities for the friendship ;)

    Bulgaria has chance to get ticket to World Grand Prix. I think form in this special two days will be decide for this Four Teams. In other way congratulations Istanbul to host from 2011 to 2013 World Championships WTA Tour ^^

    Some minutes after a said that our team has a chance to win a european league our team started to play bad and loose a set against romania . We beat but today our game wasn't good . Our reception was been very bad today .

    Romania snatches one set in Bulgaria but is drifted far from final four


    Gabrovo, Bulgaria, July 2, 2010. Bulgaria secured a place among the top two teams in Pool A of the 2010 CEV European League after achieving its fourth win against neighbouring Romania 3:1 (25-20, 25-22, 26-28, 26-24). Now, if Turkey also ends up first or second in Pool B, the Lionesses will have a guaranteed ticket for the final four to be played in Ankara.
    Returning Bulgarian star veteran player Antonina Zetova, aged 36, made her European League debut in this match. She played as an opposite in the first two sets and had a major contribution for their victorious outcome. After 2:0 it seemed that another straight-set win for Bulgaria was on the way and head coach Dragan Nesic let Zetova rest replacing her with young talent Emiliya Nikolova.
    However, the visiting team was not keen on going away with nothing this time. The Romanians took the lead by 0:4 and then by 1:6 in the third set, only to allow Bulgaria to come back and accumulate a 4-point advantage by the second technical time-out. Bulgarian captain Eva Yaneva was spiking fantastically in these moments of the match, but so was Romanian opposite Daiana Muresan. She helped her team stay alive by scoring 11 points in this set. At 24:21, the Romanians managed to save the following three match points which surprised the Bulgarians off guard to prompt a fourth set after battling a final 26-28 in the third.
    The inspired Romanian team kept a real battle going in the fourth set as well. Some great blocking and superb defending helped them take a 14:18 lead, but after Nesic took a timely break, the Lionesses equalized at 18. The visitors did not give up and reached two consecutive set points at 22:24. It was now time for Yaneva to set her foot down. With two successful spikes she re-established the equilibrium. Tsvetelina Zarkova attacked through the middle for 25:24 to set a match point to be taken care of again by Yaneva for the final 26-24 in the set.
    Yaneva and Muresan became top scorers of the match with 24 points each.
    Romanian captain Alina Albu stated after the match: “The Bulgarian girls did not expect us to win the third set. Our play was a little better today, but the Bulgarian defence was very good and created many problems for us. We continued having problems with our defence and our block”.
    “We were not as concentrated today,” Dragan Nesic said with a certain dose of criticism. “We made this game more difficult for us and I hope this situation never happens again. Anyway, it was a good learning experience for my team. We have to learn how to win in situations like this as well”.


    Stats Photos

    "Lo sbaglio più grande e quello di credere di aver vinto prima ancora di giocare la partita"