Slovenia-Germany
Scuka scored a total of 23 points for her side while Germany’s Julia Schäfer’s output sealed 21 kills for the world No.11.
Teams Slovenia and Germany were evenly matched in terms of its scoring dynamism and the first set duel was an exchange of strong attacks exchanged between powerhouse spikers Scuka and Schäfer. It was only late in the set when Slovenia reached top gear to engine to finally pull away from their West European rivals. Germany’s consecutive errors on attack and service handed the set to captain Eva Mori’s team.
In the second set, Germany’s Schäfer and Steffi-Martha Kuhn helped improve her team’s attacking powers as they began to spike with better efficiency and outscore the helpless Slovenian side early on. Germany built a commanding lead thanks to an assault on the Slovenian receivers – a problem which remained unresolved by the Slovenians. Schäfer poured in more unstoppable serves and got help from her teammates in defence as they drew even at 1-1.
Slovenia came out determined in the second set and took a 14-10 advantage before Annegret Hölzig and Schäfer dragged her side back into the game, turning the frame on its head at 15-15. But despite the best efforts of the young German talents, the black-and-whites could not stop the Slovenians from pulling through as they watched them take a well-deserved 2:0 lead at 25-18.
Slovenia continued with good attack to illustrate their strength in both attack and serve that can be attributed to their control of the fourth set. Germany made some last minute runs but it was not enough to spark a turnaround and a win of the set. Finally, Nika Markovic ended the set and match with a block on the right flank as her side claimed the hard-earned ticket for the 2013 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship in Thailand.
Slovenia head coach Joze Casar: “I told you at the technical meeting: Thailand is in our dreams! It’s the first time in Slovenia’s history that a team makes it to the World Champs. I still can’t believe it.”
Slovenia captain Eva Mori: “We put a lot of pressure on the German receivers. On the other hand, we controlled our game in almost all aspects. I can’t explain how happy we are.”
Germany head coach Jens Tietböhl: “Slovenia deserved the victory, they played much better. We experienced huge problems in service reception. I’m disappointed as my team was not ready for today’s duel.”
Germany captain Steffi-Martha Kuhn: “We came back strongly in the second set, but couldn’t maintain the same rhythm throughout the whole match. Too bad!”
To read more news from this competition click on Youth European Championship 2013 F.
