First victory for Israel at the #EuroVolley2021 Qualifier, another straight sets win for Turkey

Today first upset in CEV Eurovolley 2021 qualifiers in Hadera, Israel: the hosts emerged victorious in the first tiebreak in the tournament, outclassing Austria, the previously called favourites in this match, that lasted 129 minutes.
Israel started better in the match thanks to good performance on the block. Austria also pushed hard on attack and improved their game on the net and, after a very balanced match, Israel entered better in the fifth set and were leading during all the time until Tamir Hershko put the end with a spike for the 15th point. Alexander Berger was the top scorer of the match with 33 points while, for the winners, Hershko tallied 21 points.

“At the beginning of the game we made some fundamental mistakes. We didn’t perform as we imagined in defense. In this phase we made 12 mistakes! The second set was pretty okay, we had found our rhythm in reception and attack. We only had to take that with us in the third, but then we had a blackout of five points in the middle. This was the turning point. We have to win against Bulgaria. This is what we have to do. We have to try everything tomorrow: to the last point!“, Radovan Gacic, heead coach of team Austria stated.

On Saturday, Austria meet Bulgaria who have two victories out of two matches so far. In order to preserve any chances of proceeding to main competition, the Austrian players should mandatory take the win over the absolutely favorite rivals…

On the other match of the day, played in POOL C in Skopje, Turkey literally destroys Bosnia & Herzegovina in straight sets, partially 25:9, 25:19, 25:18. The winners have 66% efficiency on attack, scored 4 aces and recorded 11 blocks. Efe Bayram became top scorer with 10 points, followed by Metin Toy with 9.

“We are very happy to have won three matches so far. Tomorrow, we meet team MKD. We believe that we will win and will grab the ticket to Euro Volley. There, we will see what will happen, but I think we have a big potential“, Faik GÜNEŞ, player of Turkey said.

“We want to thank to the Macedonian organisators who have made possible this tournament. Our team is very young, we have to work hard in the future to arrive where we want to be. But I hope that we will do it, and someday we will be at Finals of European Championship“, Sanjin Bezdrob, player of Bosnia&Herzegovina added.

📌| Qualifications for 2021 CEV European Championship, Pool C – Skopje:

| January 11
• North Macedonia – Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 (27:25, 25:21, 23:25, 25:19)

| January 12
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – Turkey 0-3 (15:25, 17:25, 18:25)

| January 13
• Turkey – North Macedonia 3-1 (25:16, 18:25, 25:18, 25:12)

| Second round robin
| January 14: Bosnia & Herzegovina – North Macedonia 0-3 (20:24, 24:26, 13:25)
| January 15: Turkey – Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-0 (25:9, 25:19, 25:18)
| January 16: North Macedonia – Turkey 3-1 (25:19, 21:25, 25:23, 25:18)

Standings : Turkey 9, North Macedonia 6, Bosnia & Herzegovina 0

📌| Qualifications for 2021 CEV European Championship, Pool B – Israel:

| January 12
• Israel – Austria 0-3 (25:27, 23:25, 20:25)

| January 13
• Austria – Bulgaria 1-3 (21:25, 25:20, 19:25, 22:25)

| January 14
• Bulgaria – Israel 3-0 (27:25, 25:16, 25:22)

| Second round robin
| January 15: Austria – Israel 2-3 (21:25, 25:20, 25:27, 25:20, 11:15)
| January 16: Bulgaria – Austria 3-0 (25:15, 25:18, 25:22)
| January 17: Israel – Bulgaria

Standings: Bulgaria 6, Austria 4, Israel 2

Source and Photo: CEV