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Montenegro celebrate the victory in their first match in Pool D. Nikola Masonicic and his team competed against Kosovo on Friday night, with Montenegro securing the win in straight sets. Block was one of the team’s strongest elements as Montenegro gained first points in the competition.

• Montenegro dominated in block, scoring 12 points, while Kosovo gained only 4 in this element

• Kosovo’s Dhurata Sylejmani was the top scorer of the match with 16 points

• Montenegro’s Jelena Cvijovic, Nikoleta Perovic and Danijela Dzakovic shared the scoring torch, gaining 13, 12 and 12 points respectively. 

• Kosovo proved more effective at the service line, scoring 5 aces

Lorik Ilazi, coach of Kosovo: “It was the best match we have played in Europe. We are a young team and we go up step by step. I am happy for my team and now we look forward to games with Finland and Slovakia. Little by little we will go up to another level.”

Fjolla Hyseni, libero of Kosovo: “We’ve had a good game and did well. We are a young group as coach said and we did our best. Montenegro team was very good and we worked hard. We hope to become better soon and step by step we are growing as a team. I’m happy with our growth, we did good.”

Nikoleta Perovic, opposite of Montenegro: “I’m very happy and proud of my team. We opened the tournament exactly as we wanted. We had some small mistakes, but it doesn’t matter - it was a first game, so it is normal. Tomorrow is a completely different and difficult game, so we need to be focused and of course we are looking to win and we will be preparing for it.”