Just a day after the junior U20 men’s volleyball team, also in Zadar, the junior women’s U19 team gathered on March 31th, with the same goal, preparing for qualifying tournaments to go to the European Championships. The host of one of these qualifying tournaments, in both competitions, is Croatia, so the tournaments for juniors will be played in Bibinje, from 8-10. April.
Rivals to our juniors are teams from Norway and Sweden, and the selector of the Croatian national team, Saša Ivanišević, before the gathering says:
“This hosting of one of the qualifying tournaments gives us even more faith that we can already qualify for the European Championship as the first-placed team. Due to the war conflicts, CEV knocked out the national team of Russia, otherwise world champions, which were supposed to be the leaders in our group. This is, in my opinion, a great chance for us to secure a place in the European Championships immediately with the victories against Norway and Sweden. If we are not the first in the group, the second place goes to the additional round of qualifications. But the goal is to be first now and secure the European Championship immediately. “
About the strength of rivals, Ivanišević will say:
“We know a lot about them, the Swedes are a very serious team led by an Italian coach, and I know the Norwegians well, but the question is still in which team both national teams will come. It is good that we are not playing on the first day, but we will be able to see the rivals live in their duel, so they will not be able to surprise us with anything. In the end, everything will depend on us and our game.”
The coach Ivanišević invited 14 players to the preparations, according to him the best that Croatia currently has in that generation.
“Mara Štiglić from Rijeka also came back to us after the injury, so we are complete. I know that many girls are already tired from the hard and long season, because many are the bearers of quality in their clubs playing in the domestic league, so we will adjust the preparations in this way. We will also have one training match, on Sunday, in Kaštela against the super league team Kaštela. I think that this game will be very good for us to see what is the current situation with the team, and to try to play some actions “, said the selector of the women’s U19 national team of Croatia, Saša Ivanišević.
Junior U 19 woman national team
Kate Lijić, setter, Split
Petra Brkičić, setter, Rijeka
Aurora Papac, middle blocker, Mladost
Ivana Ćubelić, middle blocker, Split
Iva Apostolski, middle blocker, Marina Kaštela
Viktorija Ana Trcol, middle blocker, Rijeka
Ana Burilović, receiver-attacker, Split
Ena Zajec, receiver-attacker, Nebo
Mara Štiglić, receiver-attacker, Rijeka
Taisa Weinand, receiver-attacker, Osijek
Lara Škoro, receiver-attacker, Pula
Matea Smoljan, libero, Mladost
Tia Kovčo, libero, Split Marija Tabak, opposite hitter, Split
