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European League for Slovakia |
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008 |
 The Slovakian national volleyball team won its first CEV European League title. The Slovaks demonstrated a perfect show against the Netherlands and claimed 3:1 victory.
For the Netherlands it was the first defeat in this year’s European League after a 13-0 win-loss record. Host Turkey secured the bronze medal with a tie-break win over Germany.
Italian-born Emanuele Zanini, Slovakia’s head coach, stated: “This victory is very important for our country. We played very well, especially in the first two sets. In the third set, the Netherlands provided an outstanding performance over the net. But, we did not give up and turned the page in the fourth set. I want to thank all of my players”.
Peter Blangé, head coach of the Netherlands, reported after the match : “I am very disappointed. We could not resist to Slovakia. We could secure the most important rallies. I want to congratulate Slovakia, they deserved the victory.”
Host Turkey claimed the bronze medal after a great comeback against Germany. Losing the first two sets, the Turkish team was close to a defeat, but didn’t give up and finally won the tiebreak set to the delight of the over 2’000 noisy Turkish fans in the Atatürk Spor Salonu in Bursa. Turkish superstar Volkan Guc was the best scorer with 26 points.
The Final Four of the European League in Bursa turned out to be a major success. More than 8,000 fans enjoyed the matches in the Turkish city. Journalists from all over Europe were present with the matches being broadcasted live on several international and national television channels.
European League final
| Slovakia
| 3
| 25 | 25 | 20
| 25
| | Netherlands
| 1
| 21
| 18
| 25
| 23
| | | | | | | | | | 3rd place
| | | | | | | Turkey
| 3
| 23 | 23 | 25
| 25
| 15
| Germany
| 2
| 25
| 25
| 16
| 22
| 13
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Individual Awards:
MVP: Martin Sopko (SVK)
Best Scorer: Gyorgy Grozer (GER)
Best Server: Martin Sopko (SVK)
Best Spiker: Volkan Güc (TUR)
Best Blocker: Tomas Kmet (SVK)
Best Setter: Yannick van Harskamp (NED)
Best Receiver: Ferdinand Tille (GER)
Best Libero: Jelte Maan (NED)
from CEV
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