Κυριακή 24 Μαΐου 2009

Serbia delights massive home audience in Subotica

European League - Women

Subotica, Serbia, May 23, 2009. Serbia defeated Greece in the first match the girls of coach Terzic entered for the first edition ever of the Women’s European League. The Serbians sailed to their first victory in three straight sets (25-21, 25-14, 25-15), in 69 minutes in front of 2’450 spectators. The city of Subotica warmly welcomed the chance to organize the first matches of the Women’s European League with a massive audience gathering in the local competition hall.


The match started with the intense support of the local fans for the Serbian team and some points scored with Ognjenovic in the serving area. Fearing that the match could go wrongly, Greek coach Lykoudis asked for a break that immediately secured the next ally for the Greeks, but the Serbian team continued scoring putting up a strong block and a very heavy attack. Chatzinikolaou succeeded in cooking up a point after which Chantava scored an ace. After the technical time-out, Greece resumed back to score 2 points in a row, so Terzic called for another break. In an attempt to improve their performance, the Greeks made several errors but put up a great fight in defending their turf to level at 11. With a block on the net they took the lead and Terzic had to make some substitutions, as Greece continued scoring points through errors of the Serbian team. An ace and a service error of young Petrovic brought the hosts back to 14:16 and to the second technical time-out. Being now much more focused on the match, the Serbian girls equaled the score and took the lead. It was Christou and Kalantzieva that scored to equal again for Greece. It seemed that the Serbian team finally found their block functioning perfectly on the net, aware of witty attacks of the Greek team.
The second set started with a point for the Serbian girls, but Chatzinikolaou immediately replied strongly. Kiosi found a weak spot in the Serbian defense and after a long rally the block of Nikolic and Veljkovic decided for the score to be evened again. The excellent attacks of the Serbian team forced Lykoudis to request a time-out. Some pretty points created standings ovations in the hall and the Serbian girls just went on to 11:7. Krsmanovic was excellent both with her blocks and in spiking. At 13:8, Lykoudis had to take a second time-out. More aces, some errors of the Greeks and a good game of the Serbian and the result moved up to 16:10. Veljkovic scored point nr. 17 and with Nikolic on the service, more points poured. Christou scored and then followed excellent blocks for Krsmanovic and Majstorovic. At 24:14, Majstorovic gave the final touch to score the 25:14 and finish the set in 21 minutes.
The third set started with 4 consecutive points in favor of the Greeks, after that Nikolic showed her strength and the score was quickly leveled. Both teams made several errors in their effort to turn the match to their side. Both teams were striving for their best; with the excellent blocks of Krsmanovic and Bursac Serbia moved the score up to 19:14, Lykoudis called for a second time-out, clearly annoyed by the lack of concentration of his players, but the match was quickly over with the final touch of Majstorovic.
Greece’s captain Maria Chatzinikolaou said after the match: “I will start first of all with expressions of gratitude for the extraordinary hospitality we are experiencing here in Subotica. Everything was organized in a great way, with an excellent hotel, a splendid hall and all the people who have done everything for our comfortable stay here. As for the game, I must say that we made a lot of mistakes. We are building up a new team and we do need a lot to adapt to each other. We know that the Serbian team is also very young but they have excellent new talents that everyone could see. We will try tomorrow to play better and then maybe win”.
Jelena Nikolic, Serbia’s captain, stated: “I will join Maria in her praise for the organization. We never expected that the atmosphere in Subotica could have been so great. I couldn’t stop turning around to see the spectators in the hall. The atmosphere was great. Yes, we are a new team and for many girls that was their first match and I am sure that that was the reason why we played the first set in that way. It was great, but we must improve in order to win tomorrow. The Greek team that didn’t show all they can today and will certainly do their best and try to win the second match tomorrow”.
George Lykoudis, head coach of the Greek team, said: “We definitely knew that Serbia is strong and one of the best teams in the world, having the chance to fill up very quickly also the empty places deriving from injured players. We came from another tournament and did anything as we had planned to do. Our reception was bad, our attack too, we made a lot of errors and there was no way to continue with the game. It is for us very difficult to make up a new team with new players, but we have to go on, continue with all we do and try it out. I congratulate the team of Serbia and thank the local organizers for their hospitality”.
Local coach Zoran Terzic concluded: “If Jelena and Maria were surprised so was I even though we counted on the support of everyone from the city of Subotica, but the people who filled up the stands really filled our hearts too. We are really overjoyed and will remember this match for a long time. If we have the same audience, who knows what we can do in spite of all the injuries and problems we face. We experienced some weaknesses in the first set, mostly due to pressure the girls felt but I am quite happy with the match. We will try to do more and raise the level for tomorrow”.
The best scorer in the Serbian team and the whole match was Jelena Nikolic with 14 points. Majstorovic with 13 and Bursac with 10 also contributed to the final victory with an impressive performance. The best scorers for Greece were Chatzinikolaou with 11 and Kalaintzieva with 7 points.
The second match of the first week-end for Pool A of the 2009 European League will be played tomorrow in the Hall of Sports in Subotica at 6 pm.
Stefana Veljkovic, blocker of the Serbian team, announced for tomorrow: “We were quite confused today and fearful of playing in front of our audience. This was our first match after quite some time and we hope to play much better tomorrow”.
Her teammate Sanja Bursac added: “What can I say but that we are happy that we won, although we started with some confusion as it is our first match all together. We will play at our maximum tomorrow and I expect that we will play better and try to win the match again”.
Greek opposite Kiosi concluded: “I definitely hope that we will play much better. We are quite tired after the matches we played the last week for the World Championships. We have to rest and prepare for the next match and try to show that we can do much more than what we did today”.

European League - Women

Subotica, Serbia, May 23, 2009. Serbia defeated Greece in the first match the girls of coach Terzic entered for the first edition ever of the Women’s European League. The Serbians sailed to their first victory in three straight sets (25-21, 25-14, 25-15), in 69 minutes in front of 2’450 spectators. The city of Subotica warmly welcomed the chance to organize the first matches of the Women’s European League with a massive audience gathering in the local competition hall.
The match started with the intense support of the local fans for the Serbian team and some points scored with Ognjenovic in the serving area. Fearing that the match could go wrongly, Greek coach Lykoudis asked for a break that immediately secured the next ally for the Greeks, but the Serbian team continued scoring putting up a strong block and a very heavy attack. Chatzinikolaou succeeded in cooking up a point after which Chantava scored an ace. After the technical time-out, Greece resumed back to score 2 points in a row, so Terzic called for another break. In an attempt to improve their performance, the Greeks made several errors but put up a great fight in defending their turf to level at 11. With a block on the net they took the lead and Terzic had to make some substitutions, as Greece continued scoring points through errors of the Serbian team. An ace and a service error of young Petrovic brought the hosts back to 14:16 and to the second technical time-out. Being now much more focused on the match, the Serbian girls equaled the score and took the lead. It was Christou and Kalantzieva that scored to equal again for Greece. It seemed that the Serbian team finally found their block functioning perfectly on the net, aware of witty attacks of the Greek team.
The second set started with a point for the Serbian girls, but Chatzinikolaou immediately replied strongly. Kiosi found a weak spot in the Serbian defense and after a long rally the block of Nikolic and Veljkovic decided for the score to be evened again. The excellent attacks of the Serbian team forced Lykoudis to request a time-out. Some pretty points created standings ovations in the hall and the Serbian girls just went on to 11:7. Krsmanovic was excellent both with her blocks and in spiking. At 13:8, Lykoudis had to take a second time-out. More aces, some errors of the Greeks and a good game of the Serbian and the result moved up to 16:10. Veljkovic scored point nr. 17 and with Nikolic on the service, more points poured. Christou scored and then followed excellent blocks for Krsmanovic and Majstorovic. At 24:14, Majstorovic gave the final touch to score the 25:14 and finish the set in 21 minutes.
The third set started with 4 consecutive points in favor of the Greeks, after that Nikolic showed her strength and the score was quickly leveled. Both teams made several errors in their effort to turn the match to their side. Both teams were striving for their best; with the excellent blocks of Krsmanovic and Bursac Serbia moved the score up to 19:14, Lykoudis called for a second time-out, clearly annoyed by the lack of concentration of his players, but the match was quickly over with the final touch of Majstorovic.
Greece’s captain Maria Chatzinikolaou said after the match: “I will start first of all with expressions of gratitude for the extraordinary hospitality we are experiencing here in Subotica. Everything was organized in a great way, with an excellent hotel, a splendid hall and all the people who have done everything for our comfortable stay here. As for the game, I must say that we made a lot of mistakes. We are building up a new team and we do need a lot to adapt to each other. We know that the Serbian team is also very young but they have excellent new talents that everyone could see. We will try tomorrow to play better and then maybe win”.
Jelena Nikolic, Serbia’s captain, stated: “I will join Maria in her praise for the organization. We never expected that the atmosphere in Subotica could have been so great. I couldn’t stop turning around to see the spectators in the hall. The atmosphere was great. Yes, we are a new team and for many girls that was their first match and I am sure that that was the reason why we played the first set in that way. It was great, but we must improve in order to win tomorrow. The Greek team that didn’t show all they can today and will certainly do their best and try to win the second match tomorrow”.
George Lykoudis, head coach of the Greek team, said: “We definitely knew that Serbia is strong and one of the best teams in the world, having the chance to fill up very quickly also the empty places deriving from injured players. We came from another tournament and did anything as we had planned to do. Our reception was bad, our attack too, we made a lot of errors and there was no way to continue with the game. It is for us very difficult to make up a new team with new players, but we have to go on, continue with all we do and try it out. I congratulate the team of Serbia and thank the local organizers for their hospitality”.
Local coach Zoran Terzic concluded: “If Jelena and Maria were surprised so was I even though we counted on the support of everyone from the city of Subotica, but the people who filled up the stands really filled our hearts too. We are really overjoyed and will remember this match for a long time. If we have the same audience, who knows what we can do in spite of all the injuries and problems we face. We experienced some weaknesses in the first set, mostly due to pressure the girls felt but I am quite happy with the match. We will try to do more and raise the level for tomorrow”.
The best scorer in the Serbian team and the whole match was Jelena Nikolic with 14 points. Majstorovic with 13 and Bursac with 10 also contributed to the final victory with an impressive performance. The best scorers for Greece were Chatzinikolaou with 11 and Kalaintzieva with 7 points.
The second match of the first week-end for Pool A of the 2009 European League will be played tomorrow in the Hall of Sports in Subotica at 6 pm.
Stefana Veljkovic, blocker of the Serbian team, announced for tomorrow: “We were quite confused today and fearful of playing in front of our audience. This was our first match after quite some time and we hope to play much better tomorrow”.
Her teammate Sanja Bursac added: “What can I say but that we are happy that we won, although we started with some confusion as it is our first match all together. We will play at our maximum tomorrow and I expect that we will play better and try to win the match again”.
Greek opposite Kiosi concluded: “I definitely hope that we will play much better. We are quite tired after the matches we played the last week for the World Championships. We have to rest and prepare for the next match and try to show that we can do much more than what we did today”.

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