GROUP A
The third round of Group A opened with a match between Ternopil National Economic University (TNEU) and Tampere University of Technology (TUT); the Ukranians celebrated a 3:0 win. Anna Yefremenko, player from the TNE University, said that the last game against Munich had been harder than this one, but that they still enjoyed the Games and were glad to be here. Sara Rantamaki from the TUT University said:
‘The game against Germany was much harder than this one, but the Ukrainian team was also very good.’
A tense game was played at Bojan Strinić Volleyball Hall. The home team of the University of Zagreb overpowered the team from the Technical University of Munich after five sets. After three matches played, Zagreb has a perfect score of three wins.
GROUP B
The German Sports University Cologne and Tallinn University met in Group B, and the Germans proved more successful, winning 3:1. Although the players from the Estonian university were in the lead in the first set, they did not manage to win. The Germans thus maintained their perfect score, while the Finns still have no points on their tally. The Slovenians have one win, while the Portuguese have two.
Jimmy Czimek, the coach of the Cologne team, commented:
‘This is perfect. It was not easy, because we did not have a chance in the first set, but then we made some changes in the line-up and things fell into their place.’
The coach of Tallinn University Argo Arak said:
‘Unlike the past two days, this game was pretty good. We’re from Northern Europe and perhaps not as emotional as the teams from the southern part of the continent, so maybe this had some impact on the result too.’
The University of Minho played against the University of Ljubljana, and the winner of the match was decided after the fifth set. The Portuguese triumphed 3:2.
GROUP C
In the morning game of Group C, the University of Osijek against the Swiss Lausanne, and lost their third game with 0:3.
In the second game of this group, the Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau faced the University of Northumbria. Winning three sets and losing none, the Romanians brought this match, but also this stage of competition, to an end with three wins. The British have only one wins (against the University of Osijek).
GROUP D
Having won against the University of Regensburg, the University of Belgrade qualified for the quarterfinals of the women’s tournament. The Regensburg team tried to win at least a set, but Belgrade brought the game to an end with 3:0, winning all three sets. The coach of the University of Belgrade Ognjen Bulić said after the game:
‘The University of Regensburg did their best against us, but they could not come close, because we are well-prepared. We are going for gold.’
The University of Regensburg coach Christian Hurler said he had thought even before the draw that the team from Belgrade were one of the best teams at the Games and had hoped to win against them. He added it was very hot here and that it made his team even weaker.
The University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Wroclaw and the University of Banja Luka played the second match of the group, and the Bosnian team won 3:0. Zoran Knežević, the coach of the University of Banja Luka, said the game had gone by as expected.
‘It was very tense, but we won and are going to the quarterfinals. We are playing against the German Sports University Cologne and we will defeat them too, so we are going to the semi-finals.’
Results
