Hosts Greece aim for direct qualification to #EuroVolleyU19W finals

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Portaria, Greece, April 25, 2018. Greece host Bulgaria, Estonia and Switzerland over the next three days in the mountain resort of Portaria on Mount Pelion, central Greece, with one spot up for grabs for the Final Round of the 2018 CEV U19 Women’s Volleyball European Championship.

As in all other seven pools across the Continent, the second ranked team after the three-day tournament will get a second chance at a berth to compete at the finals scheduled for September 1-9 in Albania through a third and final qualifying round in late June. 

“We are at high readiness and aim at qualifying directly to the finals,” said Greece head coach Nikolaos Boutsoris at the pre-competition Press Conference, Wednesday, in the nearby city of Volos. “But we still need the sporting public to come out and support us in our efforts.”

“I call upon all the fans to come out and help us reach our goal,” added team captain Effrosyni Alexakou.

Greece aim at their eighth appearance in the finals in the history of the competition, following an all-time high of fourth in 2014, when they lost to Turkey 3-1 in the bronze medal match in Estonia. But this generation of Greek players has previous international experience, from when they qualified to the finals of the 2017 U18 European Championship in The Netherlands, where they finished 12th.

However, up against Greece is a formidable opponent in Bulgaria, who arrived in Portaria overland from Sofia and are ready to fight for their 18th appearance in the finals of the U19 European Championship – with a resume including two silver (1969, 1982) and a bronze (1986) medal.

As with Greece, this generation of Bulgaria, also participated in last year’s U18 European Championship, finishing 10th in The Netherlands.

Rounding up the Portaria pool are Switzerland and Estonia. The Swiss have previously played in European Junior Championship finals only four times – and have not done so since 2004. Estonia have only competed in the 2014 edition, as co-hosts together with Finland.

“I would like to wish all participating teams the best of luck in this tournament and thank the Hellenic Volleyball Federation and the Municipal Authorities for all their hard work to make this event possible,” concluded Maria Luisa Perez Grasa, the CEV Supervisor for the Portaria pool.

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