The group stage of the beach volleyball tournament at the European Universities Games ended. Sara Radanović and Maja Roško, who play for the University of Zagreb, won first place in Group A with six points. The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences matched their score in Group B, just like the University of Warsaw 1 in Group C, the University of Warsaw 2 in Group D and Vilnius University in Group E.
Next to the courts the Unisport Corner was set up, where visitors could listen to music and grab a drink while watching the games.
GROUP A
The University of Zagreb performed better than the Israel Institute of Technology, winning the match 2:0 (21:14, 21:7). With this win the Zagreb team secured the top spot in the group with perfect score. The University of Bergen showed excellent play in their match against Tampere University of Technology. Making very few mistakes, and with an astonishing passing acuracy, they took the match 2:0 (21:9, 21:12), joining Zagreb in the knockout phase of the tournament.
GROUP B
The University of Porto clashed with the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in the first Group B match of the day. The Portuguese were tremendously close to winning the first set, but the Norwegians won several points in a row, carried by the stands filled with their supporters, turning the game in their favour – they won 2:0 (21:19, 21:12). The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences thus mantained a perfect score, and will enter the knockout stage as Group B winner.
The University of Zagreb 2 notched their first win against the Hungarian University of Phsyical Education; it ended 2:0 (21:13, 21:11). Zagreb’s tandem Ivana Ovčina and Martina Kovačević have waited for outcomes of other matches, which was crucial for their team’s ambitions.
‘After two defeats yesterday, this win means a lot. We’re hoping to be among two best third-placed teams which advance to double elimination stage and will fight for medals. We just hope we’ll have enough points.’
GROUP C
The University of Warsaw and Capitole University Toulouse 1 played the match which determined the winner of Group C. The more successful in today’s meeting were the University of Warsaw with 2:0 (21:10, 21:12).
Another Croatian representative, the University of Split, sought a victory against the University of Camerino. Just like their counterparts from Zagreb 2, they produced their first win at the tournament with 2:0 (21:19, 21:10), and are waiting for other results to see if they’ll be playing in the knockout phase.
GROUP D
The University of Warsaw 2 was also sucesful, beating the University of Ljubljana without losing a set (21:13, 21:9). They’re currently first in Group D. Riga Stradins University will advance to the knockout phase from the second place, as they have one loss. In their today’s game they overpowered the University of Ankara with 2:0 (21:18, 21:15).
GROUP E
The group stage was concluded with wins of the University of Linz and the University of Vilnius; Linz beat the University of Groningen 2:0 (21:15, 21:12), while Vilnius triumphed over the University of Lorraine, also in two sets (21:12, 21:10). This win means that Vilnius won the first place in the group. Two of their players, Urte Andriukaityte and Ieva Dumbauskaite, are delighted with their team’s performances and the tournament in general.
‘Everything is great. We strive to do our best throughout the tournament’
They were especially impressed by the weather in Croatia, since matches are often played at 30 degrees Celsius, something they are not used to.
‘Back home, it’s maybe 15 degrees, it’s raining a lot, nothing like the weather here, but we like it,’ said Ieva.
Results
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