Serbia defends European League title by beating Bulgaria 3:1

2010 CEV Women’s European League Final Four

Ankara, Turkey, July 25, 2010. After their triumph in 2009, Serbia made it again on the top of the podium of the CEV Women’s European League by beating Bulgaria 3:1, giving the Serbians their ticket for the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix. Host Turkey won bronze with a straight set win over Israel.

Picture gallery
Statistics

Serbia launched waves of fierce attacks in the beginning of the gold medal game versus Bulgaria, with Brakocevic overcoming the smaller blockers with her thundering spikes and Rasic producing solid blocks. However, Filipova smashed for an 8-7 Bulgarian lead at the first technical timeout. Today, Serbian head coach Zoran Terzic started with Molnar for Vesovic and Krsmanovic for Veljkovic. Rasic blocked for a narrowly 16-15 Serbian lead at the second technical timeout. Both teams needed some time to rev up their engines. Serbia opened the gap to two points at 21-19, and two block kills from setter Ognjenovic and Molnar moved the scoreboard forward to 23-19. A poor service reception from Vasileva gave Serbia a well-merited 1-0 set lead.
Bulgarian head coach Dragan Nesic brought in Rabadzhieva for Vasileva and Zetova for Nikolova to change tactics in the second set. Nevertheless, Serbian continued their run with Most Valuable Player awarded Nikolic on fire. At the second technical timeout, the Terzic squad led by two, 16-14. Serbia chose Yaneva as target for their razor-sharp serves, putting a lot of pressure on the Bulgarian outside hitter. The Serbians continued their leading way from then on to wrap up the second set 25-20.
Bulgaria rolled on their great form in the third set. They showed the gutsy display, foiling the Serbian’s attempts of counter-attacking. Filipova came up with terrific serves, allowing the titleholders tough times returning. Bulgaria ended the third set 25-16 (!) in their favor.
The on-going battle became more thrilling in the fourth set with both teams showing a bunch of spectacular rallies. Serbia regained control with Best Spiker awarded Brakocevic firing from the right side to offer the Serbians a 16-13 lead at the second technical timeout. Dragan Nesic gave his players a short break at 16-20 to charge batteries. But the Serbian express was now unstoppable. Bulgaria saved two match balls to reduce the gap to 22-24, but then Molnar closed it out for the Serbians with a blistering winner from the left to provide her teammates the 2010 CEV European League gold medals and the ticket for the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix.

"I'm happy", said Serbian head coach Zoran Terzic. "We played many big competitions in the past, but never the World Grand Prix. With today's victory, we got the ticket to this prestigious competition. That's great for Serbian volleyball." 

Dragan Nesic, head coach of Bulgaria, stated: "We had energy left for one top set, but not for the entire game. Serbia is a strong team; after yesterday's thriller versus Turkey we couldn't repeat the same performance."

Earlier in the day, host Turkey overcame Israel in straight sets (25-19, 25-23, 25-15) to take bronze. Even though the Turks didn’t show their best performance ever, they managed to control Europe’s top level newcomer Israel during the entire match. The Israeli demonstrated great fighting spirit, but were not constant enough to keep up the host’s pace.
Turkey started confidently to take a comfortable 13-7 lead in the first set. Nevertheless, some sharp serves from Israel kept the Turkish receivers busy. Like Saturday versus Bulgaria, the service reception was not the best element in the Turkish game. Head coach Alessandro Chiappini called a timeout at 16-15 to rearrange tactics. It helped as the hosts cruised to an unproblematic set win (25-19).
Until 23-23 in the second set, Israel maintained the chances to book their first set win here in Ankara. But finally the Turkish blockers proved too strong for the Israeli spikers to close it out 25-23 in the host’s favor. Turkey continued their run in the third set with well-coordinated block work and some blistering winners from Neslihan and Neriman. 20-years young setter Naz managed to vary her game with fast offensive combinations. Eda blocked for a 23-12 lead, and, again Eda, brought up match point with another block kill. Meryem ended it for the Turks with a burning winner from the left to secure the hosts their well-deserved bronze medals.

“We haven’t reached our top level”, said Turkish head coach Alessandro Chiappini. “Some players just came back after injuries; some others are missing game practice. We’ll play World Grand Prix Qualification in September and World Championships in October. I’m sure my team will be much stronger at this moment.”

“We enjoyed our stay here in Ankara”, said Israeli Captain Tatjana Fraga Gerber. “Thank you very much for the security measures, we felt very safe here in Turkey. We’re sorry for playing not on our best level. I really hope in two or three years my team will be playing much better.”

CEV President Mr. André Meyer was very happy that the Women’s European League “immediately established its role on the international scenario with FIVB having endorsed a provision stating that this year’s winning team will be automatically qualified for the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix.”

Even though hosting international events is not an initial for the Turkish Volleyball Federation, this time it is absolutely a “première” as Baskent Volleyball Hall was doing the honors of its “first” international final. Mr. Erol Ünal Karabiyik, President of the Turkish Volleyball Federation, said that his “sole desire was the most valuable teams of European Women’s volleyball to show Ankara’s volleyball fans the visual feast, aesthetic, and the contest spirit of our beloved sport.”

Best players:

Most Valuable Player: Jelena Nikolic (Serbia)
Best Scorer: Darnel Neslihan (Turkey)
Best Spiker: Jovana Brakocevic (Serbia)
Best Blocker: Erdem Eda (Turkey)
Best Server: Strashimira Filipova (Bulgaria)
Best Receiver: Jelena Nikolic (Serbia)
Best Setter: Maja Ognjenovic (Serbia)
Best Libero: Mariya Filipova (Bulgaria)

Women’s Final Four in Ankara (TUR):

Final Ranking:

1. Serbia*
2. Bulgaria
3. Turkey
4. Israel

* qualified for the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix

Results:

Sunday, July 25, 2010
Gold medal match: Serbia vs. Bulgaria 3:1 (25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-22)
Bronze medal match: Turkey vs. Israel 3:0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-15)

Saturday, July 24, 2010
Serbia vs. Israel 3:0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-21)
Turkey vs. Bulgaria 2:3 (19-25, 17-25, 25-11, 25-23, 13-15)

For more information as live score, results, pictures as well as statistics please visit www.cev.lu.