France
France opened the program on Friday afternoon by downing Finland in straight sets (25-19, 25-19, and 25-22). The “Suomis” could not stand the pressure as France did serve extremely well and could hence easily pocket the first two sets. Finland got to the front after the second technical time-out of set 3 but some more errors in defense paved the way for the final 3:0 scored by France.
Bulgaria edged Croatia 3:1 (25-13, 25-18, 17-25, and 25-22) in the second match of the day as the hosts stood out with their spikes that the guests could not find a way to cope with. However, after the provisional 2:0 for Bulgaria, Croatia got back on track after opting for second setter Vedrana Jaksetic and the hosts could not find anymore the right way to counter back. However, they did so in the fourth set eventually wrapping it up with the score of 3:1. On Saturday Bulgaria and France will play for the leadership in the Pool to get a more favorable draw for the final round.
