Slovenia and France allow no surprises, book first semifinal spots
Recap
Slovenia and France became the first semifinalists of the men’s CEV EuroVolley 2023. The favorites did not allow any upsets in Monday’s quarterfinals at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna. First, Slovenia downed a valiant Ukraine in four sets. Then the reigning Olympic champions overcame the resistance of a fighting Romania for a straight-set shutout.
Slovenia v Ukraine 3-1 (25-17, 31-29, 21-25, 25-23)
After a poor start, Ukraine returned to the match and was well on its way to turn things around, but Slovenia showed more character in the end to close the match in four sets. Outside hitter Klemen Cebulj led the team with 17 points, including two kill blocks. Opposite Rok Mozic produced 16 (1 ace, 2 blocks), while outside and captain Tine Urnaut added another 13 (3 blocks). Slovenian middle blocker Jan Kozamernik impressed with an 83% success rate in attack and two blocks towards a match tally of 12 points. Ukrainian opposite Vasyl Tupchii delivered a match-high 21 points (2 aces, 2 blocks), while outside and captain Oleh Plotnytskyi added another 20 (4 aces).
The first set was competitive only through 5-5. Slovenia capitalized on the abundant Ukrainian errors to pull away in the score, despite a great effort from Vasyl Tupchii, who scored seven points, including two back-to-back aces for 17-12 and 17-13. In the end, a Ukrainian serving error ended the set at a convincing 25-17 Slovenia’s way. Ukraine improved on all counts during the second set, but failed to reduce the number of unforced mistakes. Still, it was enough to provide for an exciting rollercoaster battle. After 22-20 Slovenia’s way, Ukraine hammered four points in a row to reach set point, but Slovenia reacted with a series of three to push the set into overtime. A number of set points were denied on both sides of the net until, finally, Klemen Cebulj put away the 31-29 set winner.
Still, Ukraine picked up some momentum from the ending of the second set, improved its accuracy in the third and took control on the court, now itself taking advantage of the numerous errors on Slovenia’s side. Oleh Plotnytskyi was on fire in attack, but it was middle blocker Vladyslav Shchurov, whose swing delivered the 25-21 set winner. The fourth set offered another great battle. First, Slovenia took a two-point lead, then a five-point series on Plotnytskyi’s serve, including two back-to-back aces, gave Ukraine a four-point advantage, but in the end, captain Tine Urnaut crowned a three-point Slovenian run with a successful off-the-block shot to close the match at 25-23.
Gheorghe Cretu“Playing against Ukraine is tough. They never give up, fighting, taking responsibility... It’s such a team that, if you miss a couple of details, they come back in a minute. We know that we have quality, but we need to be patient as well. We wanted to finish things a little bit faster, but it is not our way of playing the game. In the end, we showed character. Now, we are going to Italy and we know that if we want to be the best, we have to beat the best…”
Head coach of Slovenia
Ugis Krastins“We started the tournament in slow pace, but each next game we played better and better. We are happy that we made it to the quarterfinals, but we are little disappointed that we had to stop here. We understand that Slovenia is a three-time finalist and we knew that it was going be a tough battle. The first set did not work for us and then the result was decided in the ends of the sets. They have more experience in these situations and that was the difference. The organization here was very good.”
Head coach of Ukraine
France v Romania 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 27-25)
France managed comebacks in the money time of two of the sets to decide the match with Romania in straight sets. Opposite Jean Patry led the way with 14 points, including one block. Outside hitter Adrian Aciobanitei was Romania’s most productive player with 11 points.
An even battle unfolded in the first set. The Romanians showed more accuracy in their game and managed to keep slightly ahead in the score until the 20th point. In the money time, however, the more experienced French players had their way. With Timothee Carle behind the serving line, they scored four times in row to take a 22-20 lead and pushed on to close the set at 25-22 on a first-tempo swing by Barthelemy Chinenyeze for the last point. France stormed the second set on a 6-0 run with Chinenyeze serving. Romania reacted with three in a row, but then the Olympic champions went on another series of six consecutive points to render the set practically decided. With Antoine Brizard conducting the French attackers well and successfully spiking himself every once in a while, his team kept pace to win the set by a convincing 25-14. Romania, in turn, had a fiery beginning to the third set, running off with a 5-0 lead. It was well in control through most of the set to reach set point at 24-21. But the French showed some character again. They denied it three times to push the set to overtime. They denied the next Romanian set point as well before Brizard hammered an ace to bring in the first match point. A Romanian error in attack followed to put an end to the match at 27-25.
Andrea Giani“The first set was interesting, because Romania played very well. In the end, we worked very well in serving and defense. The second one was easy. In the third set, we made many mistakes at the beginning and we lost rhythm. For me, it is very important never to lose rhythm. Every ball is important. In the end we recovered, while the Romanians made some mistakes. We made some good serves, some block and defense and took the opportunity to win in straight sets.”
Head coach of France
Sergiu Stancu“We are disappointed right now. It’s a pity to lose the set when you are leading 24-22. We could have pressured them even more and the game could have changed. Today, the better team won and the better team was France. Overall, a great performance by our team - the best since many years ago, so in general, we are very proud and happy about reaching this stage of the competition.”
Head coach of Romania