Czech Republic
The Czechs opened with a 8:4 run helped by their captain Ondrej Hudecek and some blocks, while Thomas Zass and Philipp Schneider were the absolute standouts on the other side of the net. Still the Czechs could cruise to a comfortable 25-19 before the second set contributed many emotions and turnarounds; the Czechs set the pace there but could not capitalize on three set balls before they closed it out at 28-26. The Czechs started with a 7:2 break in set 3 powered by Jan Stokr and easily controlled the game up to the very end (25-18) with head coach Stewart Bernard giving some playing time also to Jakub Janouch and Tomas Hysky.
“It was a tough match and we wanted to win, so I am happy we did it. We got closer to book our qualification for the European Championship. In the second set Austria played really well, and especially with their side-out, so it was a tough moment for us” said the Czech mentor.
“I think that the Czech Republic is the best team in the Pool and they will be successful also at next year’s European Championship. We have a very young team and we could play well only for one set” stressed Austria’s mentor Michael Warm.
