Eurovolley Pool B: another defeat for Germany, second victory for Slovakia!

Germany have again suffered a defeat and that might be a trouble for Giani’s team. They lost to the host of the teams in Pool B, Belgium, after an amazing five-set thriller. Christian Fromm was the best scorer of the match with 27 points but that didn’t help his team win the battle, while on the other side Sam Deroo had 19.

Reactions:
Christian Fromm – Outside spiker of Germany
“In the first set we were struggling with our serving. It was only with Ruben Schott in the team that we raised our serving level. The tie-breaker turned into a huge deception, since we have no other choice than to win our next three games in order to avoid the fourth place in our pool.”

Brecht Van Kerckhove – Coach of Belgium
“We had some tough moments in the third and the fourth sets, so we had to look for solutions. So I tried to rotate all my players. But in the end it came down to playing a good tie-breaker, giving our best from the first point on. That’s how we could keep this important victory at home. Now we have to recover well, because we need some more wins in order to keep a good position in our pool.”

Slovakia clearly stated their intentions of making the next round of EuroVolley by taking their second victory in the Pool. They came back from a set down against Austria to win in four sets. Slovakia’s opposite Peter Michalovic was the best on the winning side, scoring 26 points, while Thomas Zass was Austria’s best scorer with 19 points.

Reactions:
Juraj Zatko – Setter of Slovakia
“We didn’t start very well, but after the first set we were able to change our game. This was a special game, because there’s great rivalry between our two teams since some of our players play in Austria. So we had to make sure to win. Moreover, our women’s team put some pressure on us by reaching the eighthfinals two weeks ago in the women’s EuroVolley. Tomorrow we’re not the favourites against Serbia, but we can play without pressure.”

Michael Warm – Coach of Austria
“We had a very good start, but from the second set on, Slovakia raised their level and we couldn’t control their opposite Michalovic anymore. Tomorrow I expect a very tough game against Germany. They arrived at this tournament with very high expectations, but after two losses, they are in trouble. Yet, if they play at their best, they’re one of top favourites for the gold.”

2019 CEV European Volleyball Championship, pool stage – Day 3:

POOL A (Montpellier, France)
Greece – France 0-3 (14:25, 18:25, 24:26)
Bulgaria – Portugal 3-1 (25:23, 28:30, 25:23, 25:22)

POOL B (Brussels & Antwerp, Belgium)
Germany – Belgium 2-3 (23:25, 17:25, 25:22, 25:15, 13:15)
Slovakia – Austria 3-1 (19:25, 25:20, 25:21, 25:15)

POOL C (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
North Macedonia – Russia 0-3 (15:25, 16:25, 28:30)
Slovenia – Finland 3-1 (25:18, 26:24, 24:26, 25:15)

POOL D (Rotterdam & Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Ukraine – Netherlands 0-3 (26:28, 27:29, 21:25)
Estonia – Montenegro 0-3 (23:25, 28:30, 23:25)

Source and photos: CEV