The 2015 WEVZA U19 Men Championships completed the first stage of competition, as Germany clinched the last ticket to the semifinals. Italy and France starred in a clash of titans with the triumph going to the Azzuri side for the lead of the pool A. Germany ranked in second position after defeating Portugal and Spain achieved their third victory in a row, in a hard match against the Netherlands. The semifinals are scheduled for 19:00 (local time) when Spain will face France and Italy will challenge Germany in the decisive phase of WEVZA U19 Men Championship.
Belgium overpowered Switzerland in a five-set thriller 3:2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9) to ensure the third position in the Pool A. The Belgian side took command of the game in the first set, with an impressive attack, dominated with a three-four points of advantage. Switzerland committed less mistakes than their contenders in the second period so to equal the game. The story was repeated in the following sets, driving the match to the tiebreak. Belgium showed a more effective performance in the beginning and kept the upper hand until the final 15-9.
Italy continued undefeated and sealed the top position in the Pool B, by winning a clash of titans against France 3:1 (25-18, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17). The start of the match had Italians as stars, as they earned an advantage and held it for some time when France managed to turn the score around. Azzurri presented a good serving and blocking systems to close the set. The second set was more balanced in the scoreboard but in the final rush Les Blues could not keep up with their rivals. Italy set the pace of the game all the way through in the third set (8:3, 16:5) and their victory was not questioned
Germany beat Portugal in four sets 3:1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 25-17) to reach the semi-finals at the expense of what Spain and the Netherlands did in their match. German players produced an electrifying start and soon took an advantage in the game. In the second set, the clash looked similar, with a German supremacy in the scoreboard 20-16. Portugal fought back to tie the period and ended the set in their favor. The equality affected the German side, as Germany handled the game from that moment on with more intensity in the play. The German rising stars restarted their engines with impressive attacks and solid blocks to achieve the victory.
Antonio Guerra, coach of Portugal said: “The match has been very tactical. We tried to break the German play, but we made a lot of unforced mistakes. We have arrived at this tournament without a good preparation. The rest of teams are more compact, united, with better rhythm than us”.
Matus Kalny, coach of Germany said: “Today we won the match, we played better than yesterday. Only at the end of the second set we did’t play well, we had some problems. But finally we have shown that we are better team”.
Spain ensured the first position of the pool B with a fantastic victory 3:1 over the Netherlands. Both teams showed a great performance with a close score and an enthusiastic fighting spirit. Similar ends in the first two sets led the supremacy of the match for Spaniards. These two sets were enough to claim the leadership of the pool, but Spain wanted to win. The Netherlands also kept their options to clinch the semifinals and a great third set maintained the dream for Oranjes. Spain presented an impressive start at the fourth set with an advantage that they managed to maintain until the victory.
Benjamin Vicedo, coach of Spain commented: “Today we had a complicated match, like a trap, because we already knew that we are in semifinals. We played well the first two sets but in the third we had some problems. In the fourth set we started very well and kept our advantage. In semifinals, France and Spain are two balanced teams, we played friendly matches before tournament. The team who makes the fewest mistakes will have more chances to win”.
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