30/06/2012 15:00
Bulgaria keeps invincibility by scoring another win to finish off prelims
2012 CEV Volleyball European League - Women
Metz, France, June 30, 2012. Bulgaria emulated neighboring Serbia sweeping all of its matches in the prelims of the 2012 CEV Volleyball European League – Women with that positive record being prolonged on Saturday to 12 consecutive games after the players mentored by Marcello Abbondanza downed the home heroines of France in three straight sets in Metz (25-16, 25-17, and 25-23).
This is certainly the right boost the “Lionesses” from the Balkans needed before traveling to Karlovy Vary, venue of the final four coming up this July 5-6 where Bulgaria will be playing Serbia in the semifinals. “I am very satisfied with our immaculate record and especially since the team has steadily improved throughout the prelims” says Abbondanza. “We know that our task in the final four will be extremely tough but we go there with the necessary self-confidence stemming from these 12 wins” he adds.
“It is very hard to finish our campaign with a loss” stresses France’s team captain Hélène Schleck. “I think we had our chances tonight but we simply made too many mistakes. We did miss the right aggressiveness in blocking but nevertheless we can take some positives from our adventure in the European League since this is still a young and relatively new group but with good perspectives for the future”.
In the other match of the final day in Metz, Turkey edged Switzerland in straight sets (25-14, 25-8, and 25-21). Even though Kristel Marbach and her friends did their best to stop the march of the Turkish express, still the could not avoid a clear defeat whereby they end their first campaign in the European League with only one set won. Turkey, on the other hand, is eventually ranked third in Pool B with 14 points. “This is a young group since our best players are competing in the final round of the FIVB World Grand Prix and hence our goal for this season was to get valuable experience on international stage. I am satisfied because we have improved throughout these four weeks” says Turkey’s head coach Edman Gökhan.
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