“We definitely want to take home a medal from here. The strength of our team is in fighting and cohesiveness. When everything is good, we are doing well and it shows. As soon as we don’t play together, we will be withdrawn, we will not do well. So, even in unfavorable conditions, we have to keep together and that is and must be our motto throughout any competitions and matches,” said captain Adam Zajíček in a press release.
Jiří Novák’s men beat the Turkish team 3:1 in last year’s final. They started well today and after the first set (25:22) won the third (25:19). But after that, the Turks started to be more successful in the attack. In the fourth set, the Czechs pulled back a seven-point deficit (8:15) to a tied score of 20:20, but the ending did not work out for them.
On the other hand, the Czech representatives started the decisive set with an excellent defense at the net. They soon ran away to a three-point difference, but the Turkish volleyball players again more often asserted themselves in the attack and rejoiced not only in the successful revenge for last year’s final, but also in advancing to the fight for gold and the chance to participate in the League of Nations.
“Unfortunately, the outcome of the match was decided by our bad starts in the second and fourth sets, when we let the Turks get away after winning the sets and then we had a hard time catching up with them. In the fourth set, it looked like a nice comeback, but unfortunately the Turks took advantage of our inattention at the decisive moment and free balls. In my opinion, we continued to play good volleyball, but it lacked a bit of courage and accuracy. Then it already incriminated for a simple volleyball, but that’s part of the game,” added Zajíček.
Small things made the decision, even according to sweeper Lukáš Vašyna. “We won the first set, then the Turks by a big margin, and again by a big margin. In the fourth set, the Turks won by a big margin, but we managed to catch up with them. A tie-break is a fifty-fifty risk. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage it. I think lost on the fact that we have a young – I’m not saying inexperienced, on the contrary very experienced, but young – team and the Turks have a slightly more experienced squad and it was visible in the tie-break. But that youth is our strength. We fight at all costs for every ball, we don’t give up, we are aggressive and combative,” he said.
After Sunday’s match for third place, the main highlights of the season await the volleyball players – the European Championship and Olympic qualification.
Semifinals of the European Volleyball League: Czech Republic – Turkey 2:3 (22, -17, 19, -23, -12) Referees: Vinalijev (Bulgaria), Jurkovičová (Croatia). Time: 141 min. Czech Republic: Licek 9, Zajíček 7, Šotola 23, Vašina 16, Polák 2, Serb 3, libero Moník – Benda, Bryknar, Indra 8, Cech 4, Špulák 1. Coach: Novák. Croatia – Ukraine 1: 3 (-23, 21, -21, -12)