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In the first match on the women’s EuroVolley 2021 qualification Pool C program, Spain achieved a 3-1 (28-26, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23) victory over Austria.

Austria made a strong start and seemed well on their way to claiming set one at 21-14, but Spain mounted an amazing comeback to turn things around to a 28-26 win, with newcomer Lucia Prol spiking successfully for the last point to reach the double digits in the set.

In the second part, the Spaniards started their comeback earlier, when they were “only” 8-12 down. Employing more efficient serving, they broke away to reach an emphatic 25-18 close, shaped up by captain Maria Segura’s off-the-block swing.

Another large Austrian lead of six points was put to the test by the opponents as Spain narrowed it down to just a point at 22-21, but this time coach Jan Jose De Brandt’s team held up to win by 25-23 and stay in the match.

Some brilliant blocking half way through the fourth set gave Spain the advantage to cruise comfortably for a while and reach a quintuple match point at 24-19. Austria, however, denied them the win four times before finally succumbing to a 25-23 Spanish victory.

Maria Segura, who tallied 12 points in the fourth set alone, was the best scorer of the match with a total of 28 points to her name.

Pascual Saurin, head coach of Spain: "Our start to the game was catastrophic, but happily we found our rhythm quickly and turned the first set around. A win such as this on the opening is extremely important, especially against a team such as Austria who are our main competitors in this pool."

Jan Jose De Bradt, head coach of Austria: "We lost, but the reality is that we don't have very much from Spain. Unfortunately, after a good start in the first and the second sets we lost them. Our opponents were serving very well and we couldn't find a solution in our reception."