Eurovolley2023: co-hosts North Macedonia open Pool C with a win. Winning debuts for France and Portugal in Pool D

CEV EuroVolley 2023 officially started also in North Macedonia and the co-hosts start their path with a 3-1 (22:25, 25:22, 25:19, 25:22) victory over Denmark.
Althoug the rivals were better from the service line, scoring 8 aces against 3 of the winners, and won first set, North Macedonia react with a solid block (9 to 4) and a good performance of top scorer Aleksandar Ljaftov (12 points, 50% in attack and 3 winning blocks), closely followed by Nikola Gjorgjev, who scored 11.
12 points also for Mads Kyed Jensen, the only player in double digit on the losing side.

In Pool D, the reigning Olympic champions France kicked off their EuroVolley 2023 campaign with a convincing victory over Türkiye in Tel-Aviv, Israel, winning in straight sets (25:21, 30:28, 27:25) a thrilling battle.
Despite some nerve-wracking moments in each set, the winners demonstrated their superiority in attack and a solid reception, which proved to be the key to their success in the 96-minute matchup.
Middle blocker Barthélémy Chinenyeze and opposite Jean Patry led the French team with 15 points each, with the latter recording an impressive 82% attack efficiency!
On the losing side, Adis Lagumdzija closed the game as top scorer with 14 points, although he only managed a poor 35% attack efficiency.
Türkiye started strong in the first set, leading the game 7-12, but the rivals managed to turn the tide thanks to Chinenyeze and the good job of setter Brizard. The second and third sets saw a similar story, with France leading but unable to pull away from a very combative rival. Despite some lapses in concentration and 21 serving faults in just three sets, Andrea Giani’s side managed to save several match points and clinch the victory.
In the upcoming Pool D match, France will compete against Portugal on Thursday, a team that also had a game today: in the evening, they secured a great 3-0 (25:19, 25:18, 25:23) victory over Romania.
To make the difference are the performance in serving of the winners, who scored 7 aces (3 from Miguel Tavares) against the only 1 of Romania, who also committed as many as 40 errors (32 for Portugal).
Jose Pedro Pinto and Lourenco Martins were the most prolific players with 16 and 13 points, respectively, while Adrian Aciobanitei scored 12 points on the losing side.
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🏐| CEV EUROVOLLEY 2023 | All results of August 30

POOL B | Palace of Culture and Sports | Varna 🇧🇬
• 17.30 (Local Time) | Slovenia – Ukraine 3-1 (23:25, 25:22, 25:20, 25:20)
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Finland – Croatia 3-0 (25:19, 25:19, 25:22)

👉🏼 POOL C | Boris Trajkovski | Skopje 🇲🇰
• 20.00 (Local Time) | North Macedonia – Denmark 3-1 (22:25, 25:22, 25:19, 25:22)