European League 2011

    Israel - Hungary 3:1
    Both teams played with many ups and downs, all sets were decided with a series of points in the middle of the set from the winning team. Both teams worked well in block. Inessa Vysotski played very well, for me she was best player of the match. Anna Velikiy doesn't seem to be in the best shape, first two sets she was on bench and also when she played she was not as good as last year.

    Match is not over yet but if all young Bulgarian girls play like no14 (Shopova) future does not look bright for them - shes a joke, Bulgarian coach literally killed his team putting her in at 12-12 in 3rd set

    Cutura plays in Munster (Deutsch League), Nemteanu plays in Tomis Constanta (Romania)

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

    Quote from Kaziyski

    shameful match by croatia :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

    I don't really understand why almost everyone underestimmates Romania's NT.Actually,our team changed a lot.. and I really think the poor match made by the Croatian team was influenced by our NT's good performance.

    Quote from kondzio

    Cutura plays in Munster (Deutsch League), Nemteanu plays in Tomis Constanta (Romania)

    Thank you for the info. I liked both of them.


    Romania could be really dangerous in ECH with this roster:


    Setter:Neaga
    Middles: Nucu and Onyejekwe
    OHs: Nemtanu and ? (Do you have any idea for this position?)
    OPP: Turlea
    Libero:Manu

    Quote from kadir_8

    Thank you for the info. I liked both of them.

    Nemtanu came to Germany as young child and played in our league until last year (Hamburg and Vilsbiburg), and she also has German citizenship, but Guidetti never called her to NT. Watching her now I wish he had :cursing: She is better than most German OHs.


    It's strange to see Kovacic in one team with stars like Grbac and Alajbeg, but today she played much better than she usually did in German league. On the other hand Hana Cutura had a rather weak match today, she can play much better.


    Strong players :super: :super:

    Is she Armanda Fernandez' (Sopot) sister ??

    I agree with your roster.. but as far as OHs are concerned,I'm not sure who'll be starting Nedelcu,Corjeuteanu or Nemtanu.They are all good,but I think the first two are more experienced.. but Nemtanu would be great substitution

    POOL A


    Serbia - Greece 3-0 (25-11,25-14,25-15)
    Spain - France 3-1 (17-25,25-20,25-23,25-18 )


    1.Serbia 3 (3-0)
    2.Spain 3 (3-1)
    3.France 1 (1-3)
    4.Greece (0-3)

    POOL B


    Israel - Hungary 3-1 (25:18,25:15,18:25,25:21)
    Czech Republic - Bulgary 3-1 (16:25,25:21,25:21,25:21)


    1.Israel 3 (3-1)
    2.Czech Republic 3 (3-1)
    3.Bulgary 0 (1-3)
    4.Hungary 0 (1-3)

    27.05.2011



    Splendid opening for defending champion Serbia

    2011 CEV Volleyball European League - Women




    Pool A



    Spain vs. France 3:1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18)




    The girls of Spain claimed this afternoon their opening game in the 2011
    CEV Volleyball European League by defeating France 3:1 at the splendid
    “Aguas Vivas” sports hall in Guadalajara. Some 300 fans were there to
    support the home heroines who displayed an impressive performance as
    they were anchored by Patricia Aranda and Marisa Fernandez, best scorer
    of the game with 21 points, including 5 blocks. Opposite Nassira Camara
    topped the charts for France with 18.


    Spain, however, did not start well: the hosts trailed down 4:13 in the
    opening set as they were being negatively affected by their many
    mistakes. The girls around head coach Gido Vermeulen had a real re-birth
    in the second set and Marisa Fernandez helped her side clip an
    impressive start there. The sensational work of setter Patricia Aranda
    combined with the attacks of Milagros Collar paved the way for a massive
    16:7 and although France attempted a comeback, this was too late for
    the guests. The “Bleues” displayed some excellent play in set 3 and a
    very exciting final rush was there, with Marisa Fernandez stamping a
    block to claim an important rally for Spain and an error of Nassira
    Camara contributing the final 25-23 for the home side. As they wanted to
    avoid the risks associated to the tie-break, the Spaniards started well
    concentrated in set 4 (16:11), their good reception and quick play of
    Ana Correa and Marisa Fernandez paid back and the final 3:1 – together
    with 3 points – was there. Spain’s head coach Gido Vermeulen was happy
    at the end of the match: “We are still looking for our best rhythm of
    play. We started the match poorly but we were able to improve gradually.
    The battle for the third set ended in our favor and after that we
    imposed our play, so I am happy with today’s performance”.




    Serbia vs. Greece 3:0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-15)



    The defending champions of Serbia started their campaign this afternoon
    with a speedy 3:0 to outclass Greece in front of 850 spectators at the
    “Jezero” sports hall in Kladovo. Before the start of the match, Mr.
    Zivojin Bogojevic, the President of the Volleyball club “Djerdap” from
    the city of Kladovo, presented Xanthi Mylona, Greece’s libero, with some
    flowers to celebrate her birthday.


    Serbia opened the match by lining-up Antonijevic, Brakocevic, Ninkovic,
    Rasic, Vesovic, Molnar and libero Popovic. The girls were pretty eager
    to play and right from the beginning imposed a very intense rhythm which
    the Greek side couldn’t follow. Greece’s head coach Dimitris Floros
    asked for his first time-out when Serbia was leading 7:2, and called a
    second stop at 13:4 for the home side. The scoreboard signaled a 16:5
    for the “Blue Girls” at the second mandatory stop and after 20 minutes
    of play Serbia went up 1:0 (25-11).


    The second set started much better for the Greek side as they initially
    set the pace 7:2 and 8:3. However, Serbia managed to recover with two
    consecutive runs (3:0 and 5:0), and turn the score to 15:12 in their
    favor. Dimitris Floros was forced once again to ask for a time-out. The
    teams went to the second technical time-out at 16:14 for the home side
    and after that, Serbia managed to win 9 points in a row for the final
    25-14.


    The visiting team started the third set pretty well and went up 8:5 at
    the first technical time-out. Serbia managed to reach the tie at 11 and
    then to take the lead at 14:12. From that point on, things developed
    pretty much the same way as in the previous set. It was 16:12 at the
    second technical time-out, before Serbia widened the margin (20:13) and
    took home the first 3 points in this edition of the European League
    (25-15).


    “We are the favorites and we are expected to defend the title. We were a
    little bit tired today, but it is normal because this is the beginning
    of a long season. We are satisfied with our performance, even though we
    can play much better” said Serbian player Jovana Brakocevic.


    “I received some nice flowers before the start of the game and I am
    delighted. It was a very nice surprise. As for the match, most of the
    time we were chasing the result, on some occasions we managed to get in
    front, but Serbia is a much better team and they deserved this victory.
    We will try to play better tomorrow” said Greece’s libero Xanthi Mylona.



    The most efficient player for Serbia in this game was Jovana Brakocevic
    with 22 points while Evangelia Kyriakidou topped the charts for Greece
    with 8.




    Pool B




    Israel vs. Hungary 3:1 (25-18, 25-15, 18-25, 25-21)




    After being the sensation of the last edition, Israel opened this
    afternoon the program in Pool B by scoring a 3:1 victory against rookie
    Hungary. Initially the home girls were trailing down 7:11 but then found
    the right tempo to close the gap and seize the first set 25-18. The
    home girls mentored by Arie Selinger totally controlled the operations
    in the second set (16:12, 22:12) to go up 2:0 in the match count (25-15)
    with a solid performance displayed by libero Adva Zinober, Inessa
    Birman-Visotsky and Tatjana Frage-Gerber. Israel was dictating the pace
    also in set 3 (8:4) but Hungary turned the score around (11:13) before
    moving up 17:23 and closing the set 18-25 to stretch the game to a
    fourth set. There the experience of Tatiana Artmenko and Anna Velikiy
    was the real plus for Israel that after a close lead at the second
    technical break (16:15) changed gear to get the first 3 points of this
    campaign (25-21). “We played pretty well today but we left one set along
    the way” said libero Zinober. “I am happy that we won this game because
    this helps boost our self-confidence. We still have some things to
    improve and work on”. “It was important to start with a good result”
    added captain Tatjana Frage. “Our coach is providing us with many
    tactical hints and this helps pretty much, it actually contributed to
    the final result of this game”. Anna Velikiy, who is coming back after
    nursing an injury, stated: “I am not yet fully fit and I hope to recover
    completely very soon. It is always good to open with a win but we have a
    long way to go”. “This win is certainly better than a loss, but we were
    not perfect. We compensated a lack of accuracy and team work with the
    individual physical skills of the girls, which in a way surprised me.
    Anyway, this was the first game together after quite a long time so it
    makes sense” concluded coach Selinger.



    Czech Republic vs. Bulgaria 3:1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21)




    The home girls of the Czech Republic and their opponents from Bulgaria
    delighted an audience of 500 this afternoon in Svitavy as they opened
    their campaign in the 2011 CEV Volleyball European League with the
    Czechs eventually having the upper hand at the end of an exciting game.


    The hosts started a bit too relaxed and as they trailed down 0:4 their
    head coach Jiri Siller asked for a first stop of the game. Bulgaria set
    the pace at the first mandatory stop (4:8) with a very good performance
    in attack. The hosts got a positive mini-break with a serving turn of
    their setter but were still chasing their opponents at the second
    technical time-out (13:16). Coach Siller attempted to change the course
    of the game with some substitutions but it did not work while Bulgaria
    profited of good serves from Dobriana Rabadzhieva to stamp the final
    16-25.


    The second set was much closer since the very beginning; by improving
    their defense and block, the Czechs stayed tuned, helped also by some
    Bulgarian errors. Both teams scored regularly with their side-outs but
    some blocks of Kristyna Pastulova paved the way for the Czech lead
    (16:12) at the second technical time-out. The hosts were gradually
    getting confidence and Pastulova put an end to the second set, after
    scoring 5 kills and 4 blocks all alone there for the home side.


    The Czechs maintained that good pace also in the opening of set 3 (8:2)
    but Bulgaria gradually improved its efficiency in attack and from the
    serving line to close up 10:8 and force coach Siller into a time-out.
    This did not help much, as Bulgaria did not stop scoring. After a tie at
    14, Sarka Barborkova scored twice in a row for the Czechs and with her
    serve she stretched the margin (19:15) to prepare the right conditions
    for a good final rush (25-21).


    The Czech Republic opened set 4 with a massive 8:0, contributed by the
    great blocks of Aneta Havlickova; Bulgaria tried to storm back but that
    resulted in quite many errors (12:4) before the second technical
    time-out was called at 16:11. The Czechs did not slow down their tempo
    and could finally celebrate their first win in what was their absolute
    premiere in the European League.


    Bulgaria’s coach Dragutin Baltic commented: “We have a young team and we
    lack preparation. Both teams blocked well but the girls were nervous,
    so that definitely influenced the game”.


    Czech setter Sarka Kubinova stated: “The match was extremely balanced
    since the beginning and there we struggled with our reception. After we
    improved that fundamental, our play got more solid and consistent. We
    also started serving harder and had good blocks, especially in set 4. We
    are glad we have won and I think tomorrow we shall be able to play a
    bit cooler”.