Austria – Slovenia
The first set was relatively leveled through 9-10, after which Austria rushed forward scoring 4 consecutive points with Daniel Egger behind the serving line. Slovenia never recovered from this blow and lost the set by 17-25.
Some great serving by Slovenia’s captain Jernej Vhrunc (4 aces in the set) gave his team the edge in the second part of the match. Slovenia made a 7-point run to take s 10-3 lead. Austria tried to fight its way back and gradually succeeded by tying the score at 19 each. However, inspired by the enthusiastic support from their fans on the stands, the Slovenes regained an advantage to win the set by 25-22.
In set 3 it was Austria’s turn to dominate again. Paul Buchegger continued to spike point after point, but now he also demonstrated his blocking skills to total 11 points in the set. This time Austria achieved a 7-point run to rush forward for 14-5 and then closed the set comfortably by 25-20.
The fourth set was the most exciting in the match. Improved digging and receiving from both sides resulted in longer rallies as Slovenia gradually recovered from an early 2-point lag to gain a 3-point lead of its own. Austria did not give up and leveled the score at 20 each. After 23-23 the Slovenes could not keep their cool and made two unforced errors to give away the victory to the opponents.
Nina Sawatzki, head coach of Austria: “We knew that either Slovenia or we are going to go to the next round and we are glad that we won. We are still not in the semi finals, and we have to look forward to the matches that are coming.”
Iztok Ksela, head coach of Slovenia: “I think that my team did not make it mentally today. We talked about playing our game without fear, but, the more we talked about it, the less we played that way. Then we allowed the Austrians to get into the game. I think they were psychologically more prepared and that is why they won.”
Florian Ertl, captain of Austria: “This was a very emotional match, and I am glad we won. Tomorrow we have a day off, and then we play against the Italians. They are very good, but I think we can beat them.”
Jernej Vrhunc, captain of Slovenia: “This was a hard game. Austria played really well and I congratulate them on it.”
Slovenia vs. Austria 1:3 (17:25, 25:22, 20:25, 23:25)
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