The Belgian girls write history and clinch the first European title ever for their country

CEV Youth European Championships 2009 - Girls

Rotterdam, The Netherlands, April 9, 2009. This afternoon Belgium did a great job in the final match of the Girls European Championships, seizing not simply a medal for the first time ever, but even the title, with captain Lise van Hecke clinching also three individual awards. With Serbia defeated in the final, Italy notched the bronze medal even though the match against Slovakia was not easy at all and was likely to end at the tie-break. Turkey and Germany also qualified for the World Championships scheduled for late this summer in Thailand.

Gold medal match
Belgium vs. Serbia 3:1 (25-23, 25-21, 10-25, 25-17)

The final match of this year’s Girls European Championships was staged in front of a frenzied audience, consisting mainly of Belgian fans having traveled to Holland for supporting their heroines in the very last stop of a dazzling campaign, which was anyway likely to snatch the first medal ever for Belgium in the history of the event. The Belgians started out very confidently, for the delight of their loud fans, all rigorously dressed in red t-shirts, but Serbia also found the right rhythm for what promised to be a final well worthy for an outstanding Championship. The Belgians – who have been playing together throughout the whole season and whose skills have been developed in a sort of permanent training camp – sailed away after the second technical break. The Serbian fierce resistance was not yet over as the Belgian coach asked for a time-out with his promising talents still leading the way at 23:20. Bjelica closed the gap with two more points and the score was even at 23; the Belgian audience was trying to boost captain van Hecke and her mates standing up and playing their trumpets all the time, which the enthusiasm exploding as their babies clinched the set with a lucky ace.
The Belgian dream progressed in the second set: solid blocks, a very consistent reception along with tricky lobs paved the way for an excellent show of volleyball (12:9), even though Serbia’s fighting spirit was still well alive. Even some jump serves were to be seen in this final, another confirmation that really the very best teams had made it to the decisive step of the tournament. In front of packed tribunes, Belgium sped up to 16:13 at the second break and the girls in red really impressed the audiences for being very mature both technically and tactically. Outstanding captain van Hecke was scoring from any angle of the court, even in the case her mates did not fully control their digs; at 23:20, the Belgians – including the guys that had competed in the boys’ division – stood up once again to cheer for their heroines and with a block the set count moved up to 2:0 for Belgium.
Serbia started out the third set tremendously with 6 points in a row; Bjelica & Co. were somehow forced to try it all to bounce back into contention for the gold medal and they totally dominated this section of the game (23:9!). The Belgians suffered of a real black-out, showing poor reception and probably they already started focusing on the sets still to come.
Captain van Hecke demonstrated – even though that was not really needed! – that she was relay the leading player for the Belgian team, scoring a few rallies in the opening of the fourth set and giving back some confidence to her teammates. The course of the match completely turned around again with Belgium sailing up to 8:3 at the first break and then continuing with a successful alternation of killing attacks and mighty blocks (13:8). The Belgian crew started feeling that the goal was approaching quite quickly, warming up for unforgettable celebrations with their trumpets and funny hats. Van Hecke, along with van de Vyver, fired up the last rallies and that marvelous run through the 2009 Youth European Championships came to an end in the very best possible way at 25-17 for the first major international medal Belgium ever seized in volleyball.
Lise van Hecke, who was later on named MVP of this tournament, commented: “It is a wonderful feeling to have seized this gold medal. I did not expect that, even after yesterdays’ semifinal, because we still had to play this final. In the third set we were very nervous, we were shocked after we suffered a 6:0 break in the beginning and our mental attitude was gone. But in the fourth set we have proven that we are able to fight”. Asked whether she will become a future World Champion, she answered: “Oh yes, I will be definitely looking for that”.

Bronze medal match
Italy vs. Slovakia 3:1 (25-15, 25-12, 20-25, 25-23)

In the bronze medal match, Italy was supposed to defend a long-lasting tradition - and a series of outstanding results achieved with the various youth and junior team that had regularly climbed up the European elite over the past years - against newcomer Slovakia. The Italians immediately made their intentions very clear, literally dominating the first section of the opening set with a good combination of powerful attacks and a solid reception (9:4). The Slovaks lacked of the necessary consistency, serving or spiking out too often, whereas Diouf and her mates felt definitely very sure of themselves and kept setting the pace (18:12). Italy impressed not simply with excellent skills, but also for the strong personality of their players, quite an atout at that tender age. With many variations in attack, the score rapidly sailed up to an overwhelming 23:13 for the Italians and a few seconds later the first set was over (25-15). After having suffered a shaky start, the Azzurrine restored their predominance also in the second set, with Gabrieli and Diouf on fire for the second technical time-out (16:11). The Italian machine scored continuously, alternating fast attacks, lobs and even some more variations for a lovely performance and a reassuring 2:0 lead in the set count. With the Italians facing a lack of concentration for a while, Slovakia decided to try it out for a possible comeback, having a slight margin at the second technical time-out (16:14) and then moving up with three more points in a row. The Slovaks were very effective especially in blocking, controlling most of the attacks coming from the “blue” side and quite unexpectedly seizing the set at 25-20. Slovakia continued that positive streak also in the opening of the fourth set, as the Italians appeared slow and a bit sloppy, especially in reception (16:13). Too many unforced errors hampered the performance of the Azzurrine, with their coach opting for a few substitutions to get some fresh energy on the court. With an unsuccessful block, Italy missed the chance to level the score at 20, but did so a few seconds later, thus concluding a long hunt. The set continuously turned around in the last rallies: Slovakia spiked out twice in a row, but then leveled at 23; Italy notched a first match-ball and eventually silvered it thanks to a poor reception of the Slovaks, who are nevertheless more than happy with their fourth place at these Championships and their qualification to the Worlds scheduled for late this summer in Thailand.

Classification match 5-6
Turkey - Germany 3:2 (26-24, 16-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-6)

Defending champion Germany was not able to defend the title seized two years ago and had to be content with playing the classification match for places 5 and 6 against Turkey. The girls in red jerseys showed much more motivation in the opening of the first set and – with the score staying at 13-7 for the Turks – the German coached asked for a time-out in order to re-organize a little bit the play of his protégés. That worked out quite well, as Germany started closing up the gap (15-13 for Turkey) with a much more solid reception and even avoiding the Turkish block in attack. This comeback fired up the German fans and their drums, before Turkey scored back again with a block for the second technical break (16-13). Germany took over the lead for the very first time a few seconds later (19-18), but in a very tight final Turkey eventually prevailed for the provisional 1:0. Germany started impressively in the second set, scoring seven points in a row and easily sailed throughout this section of the match (25-16). Fuchs & Co. enjoyed a marvelous run also in the third set, to speed up their approach to a possible final fifth place in this tournament. However, quite surprisingly Turkey bounced back in the final stages of the fourth set, with a series of tricky services that generated many troubles for the Germans in reception. The Turks totally dominated also the tie-break which ended with a mighty block for the final 15-6, with both teams being anyway qualified for the 2009 Youth World Championships scheduled for this coming summer in Thailand.

Classification match 7-8
Hungary vs. Ukraine 3:1 (25-17, 25-19, 16-25, 25-22)

Hungary didn’t need a lot of time to take a 2:0 lead. In the first two sets Hungary showed more variety in its attacks. On top of that it scored a lot of points in blocking. In the third set, the team had a lesser phase. It had a moderate, tame start and made a lot of small errors. On the Ukrainian side, especially team captain Kateryna Kalchenko scored a lot of points. Hungary managed to retrieve itself in the fourth set as they had a modest, but constant lead. Lilla Porubek scored a lot of attacks. At 24:22, Hungary obtained the first match point and silvered it immediately.


Final classification

1. Belgium
2. Serbia
3. Italy
4. Slovakia
5. Turkey
6. Germany
7. Hungary
8. Ukraine
9. Russia
10. Czech Republic
11. The Netherlands
12. Greece

Best Players Awards
Best scorer: Lise van Hecke (BEL)
Best spiker: Lise van Hecke (BEL)
Best libero: Marija Mihajlovic (SRB)
Best setter: Ilka Van de Vyver (BEL)
Best server: Sara Klisura (SRB)
Best blocker: Giulia Pisani (ITA)
MVP: Lise van Hecke (BEL)

For more information visit the official website of the YECH: www.2009youthec.nl

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