Rykhliuk leads Ukraine towards the first place in Pool C

On Sunday, Ukraine locked the first position in Pool C, as Olesia Rykhliuk led the team towards an empathic 3-0 over Portugal. The opposite of Ukraine finished as best scorer of the match, recording as many as 25 points to her name.

In what was the derby of the day at the #EuroVolleyW Qualifiers, the players under the guidance of head coach Ivan Petkov proved better their opponents on all counts. 

Rykhliuk turned out to be Ukraine’s trump card, especially in the first set when Portugal started slightly better. However, leading at 8-4, the Portuguese let their opponents get back on track. With Yuliia Dymar on the serve, Ukraine tied the game and got the leadership position to eventually emerge victorious at 25-17. Rykhliuk was on fire in this set, scoring nine points, and finishing the set with the exceptional 70% exc. in attack. 

Portugal tried to react in the beginning of the second set, but much inspired, Ukraine established their rhythm of play, never looking back. By that time, Olesia had scored already 18 times, and even though her excellence in attack had fallen (48%), she and her teammates were almost feeling the sweet taste of the win.

The third set turned out a complete lesson from the Ukrainians, who controlled the game, and let their opponents score only eight points. Portugal did save three matchpoints, but it was too late to deliver any surprises. Rykhliuk kept up with her good performance, and finished the match at 50% excellence in attack. She also had four aces and four kill blocks.

Overall, Ukraine outclassed their opponents in all the Volleyball elements - 43 to 30 winning spikes, nine to seven kill blocks, six to one aces, and scored more on their opponents’ errors -15 to eight.