The quarterfinals and playoffs of both the men’s and the women’s beach volleyball tournament were held on the penultimate day of the European Universities Games.
Men’s playoffs for ninth place
The home team of the University of Zagreb and the University of Lodz met in the playoff for ninth place; the match started at 10.00. Zagreb opened the game poorly, losing the first set 15:21, but adapted to their opponents’ play in the second and pulled of a comeback, winning 2:1. Filip, one of Zagreb players, made a brief comment:
‘We were very nervous in the first set which made the entire match tense. We’ll now focus on the matches ahead of us and hope to win ninth place.’
In other matches, the University of Montpelier beat the University of Lodz 1 with 2:0 (15:21, 17:21). Polytehnic Institute Porto triumphed over the University of Oslo with the same result (14.21, 14:21). The University of Warsaw notched a win against VU University Amsterdam with 2:0 (21:18, 21:11).
Men’s quarter-finals
The University of Mainz and the University of Linz clashed in the first quarter-final game of the day. It ended 2:1 to Linz, who used their opponents’ mistakes to secure the place in the semi-final.
‘I believe we have shown that we are a high-quality team, who deserve to fight for the medals’, said Linz player Florian Schnetzer.
The other quarterfinal match, featuring the University of Wroclaw and Vilnius University, was interesting as well. Vilnius won the first set 18:21, but the Polish improved the game in the second, tieing the score to 1:1. However, Vilnius proved more dominant in the third set, advancing to the semis with 2:1.
Women’s beach volleyball playoffs
The competition in the women’s beach volleyball tournament playoffs is fierce, as proven by the match between the University of Split and Technological University Tampera. In a game filled with turnarounds the Croatian representatives showed their technical prowess, which led them to the next round of the playoffs as they secured a 2:1 win.
‘It was a hard match, our opponents gave us a lot of trouble, but I believe we deserved the win,’ said several Split players.
Three matches of the playoffs for 1st to 12th place were also held. Riga Stradins University and the University of Warsaw played the first match. Both team showed some attractive volleyball, but the Polish were slightly better and won 2:0 (18:21, 19:21).
Like most of today’s matches, the one between the University of Linz and Vilnius University was decided in three sets. After the first set which went to the Austrians, Vilnius returned the favor in the second, captivating the audience with their attractive moves. Linz was dominant in the third set as well, eventually winning 2:1.
‘Unfortunately, we lost to a high-quality team from Linz since we made many mistakes,’ said Vilnius player Ieva Dumbauskaite.
In the third game of the playoff, the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences clashed with the University of Bergan. The match was one sided, as Bergen had no difficulties overpowering the Norwegians; it ended 2:0.
