Germany
The West Europeans made an excellent start into the match by dominating the first set impressively (25-17). However, the young Slovenian talents fought back bravely to gain momentum at the start of the second set (8-5). On the other side, Germany responded with three consecutive blocks on Slovenian top scorer Mlakar. At the second technical break, the team of head coach Han Abbing led again (16-15). Although it was close until the end of the set, the promising German talents never looked back (25-23). The plot of the match didn’t change in the third and last set. Germany made fewer mistakes and showed much more power at the net to keep their hopes alive for a possible fifth place at 2012 CEV Junior Volleyball European Championship – Women.
Germany head coach Han Abbing: “I am happy for that win. We dreamed of a medal before coming here; then we were disappointed after having lost this chance. So, it was not easy to recover from this mind set. But my ladies did a great job.”
Slovenia head coach Bruno Najdic: “The German girls played very well today, especially in first set. They made few mistakes and were strong on serving and attacking. But the main reason why we lost today was our lack of self-confidence.”
