The women's national team of Ukraine U-18 went to the Polish city of Kelnarov for a preparatory meeting on the eve of the qualifying round of the 2024 European Championship. There, Anastasiia Kotliarenko's wards plan to play several sparring matches against local teams.
In the qualification for the championship of the continent, the blue-yellow team got into group D, the matches of which will be held from April 12 to 14 in the capital of Georgia — Tbilisi. Their opponents will be the hosts of the tournament, Georgians, as well as Slovenians and French.
- We are extremely determined because we really want to go to the Euro, - said the coach of the national team of Ukraine U-18 Anastasiia Kotliarenko. - We have already defeated Georgia at the 2023 CEVZA championship in Latvia with a score of 3-0. But we understand that this national team cannot be underestimated, especially since they will play at home. We have not met Slovenia and France yet. However, we have detailed information about the teams. So we study and prepare for matches.
The schedule of Ukrainians' games in the qualification:
April 12
15:00 Ukraine — Slovenia
April 13
15:00 Ukraine — France
April 14
18:00 Ukraine — Georgia
Note that there are five groups in total at this stage. The winners of the groups and the four best national teams among the second places will make their way to the final part of the European Championship, which will be held simultaneously in Romania (Blaj) and Greece (Heraklion).
The representatives of the host countries qualified for the 2024 European Championship automatically — as we mentioned above, they are Romania and Greece, respectively. In addition, tickets to the continental championship were previously won by the winners of the zonal associations: Turkey, Poland, Croatia, Finland and Belgium.
Roster of the national team of Ukraine U-18:
setters: Molchanova Oleksandra, Tverda Veronika (will join the team after playing for the national team U-20);
opposites: Lisova Kira, Khrystenko Sofiia, Pavlovska Sofiia;
outside hitters: Yastrub Uliana, Hoshylyk Anna-Mariia, Onishchenko Daryna;
libero: Kostiuk Solomiia, Boiko Anna;
middle blockers: Zhylinska Kateryna, Dobryn Zlata, Nedilko Anastasiia, Fartushniak Oksana;
head coach: Kotliarenko Anastasiia.
