Slovakia – Israel
Israel went up 8:4 and 11:8 in set 2 supported by the local crowd and Artmenko spiked for the 15:10. Israel stretched the margin to 20:14 but Slovakia clawed back to 21:17. This time the guests could not complete their comeback and Israel went for the 1:1 (25-22).
The score remained extremely close halfway through in set 3 before Slovakia changed gear after the second mandatory stop and could celebrate the provisional 2:1 (25-17).
Slovakia asserted their supremacy in set 4 (7:2, 10:5) and did not slow down (16:10) even though Artmenko tried to keep alive the chances of the home side to go for the tie-break. Slovakia moved up 22:19 and after a close final rush could pocket the 25-23 that meant a 3:1 win.
“After losing yesterday a close game I am happy that my team reacted to win this important match. We killed many blocks today and this made the difference for us” said Slovak mentor Miroslav Cada.
“It is very painful to lose a match after playing relatively well and hope we’ll regroup and claim the last one tomorrow” said Israel coach Arie Selinger.
