European Golden League-2023. Women. Semifinal
Tabor (Sport Hall Mír). Czech Republic
June 28. 2nd match
Czech Republic — Ukraine 1-3 (25:22, 11:25, 22:25, 16:25)
It was expected that it would be more difficult for our national team in the second semi-final match. Firstly, the match occurred on the home court of the Czechs, and secondly, the rivals had nothing to lose. Despite this, the Ukrainians were able to win and eventually fulfill the main task — to reach the finals of the European Golden League-2023.
The match started with Oleksandra Milenko's powerful serve, which gave the already motivated Ukrainian team a boost. It was them who dominated the course of the game in those minutes - 5:7. However, even before the equator, the Czechs, to the cheers of their own fans, organized a surge — 10:8. After Monika Brancuská's block, the home team's lead increased to 12:9, so Ivan Petkov took a timeout.
The timeout had a positive effect, in particular, on Anastasiia Kraiduba, who first played technically and most importantly efficiently over the net, and then served two aces - 12:12. Later, Oleksandra Milenko also had her say, returning the leadership to the Ukrainian national team. But the situation on the court changed every minute, so it was increasingly difficult to predict the winners - 21:21. The final part of the set turned out to be quite nervous, and, unfortunately, fortune smiled on the Czechs - 25:22.
It seemed that the hosts continued to celebrate the previous triumph at the beginning of the second set, which is why they did not immediately return to the game. The blue-yellow team took full advantage of this, and on the contrary, they added in both attack and defense. In particular, Svitlana Dorsman and Anastasiia Kraiduba have brought another point to the National team of Ukraine with an organized block — 3:6.
We are glad that our athletes did not stop there - 6:13. The representatives of the Czech Republic literally put their hands down, not having time to "cover" the attacks of the Ukrainians. For their part, the latter took courage, and at that moment it was impossible to stop them - 11:25.
In the next set, the game was even, and the national teams alternately exchanged productive attacks — 7:7, 11:11. The closer it was to the end, the more often the volleyball players from both sides made mistakes. And at a certain moment, these errors became more precisely for the opponents - 22:25. So, Ivan Petkov's team had a 1-2 lead in sets, thus booking a ticket to the finals of the European Golden League 2023. There they will play with the winner of the Belgium-Sweden match.
Taking into account the above, the Bulgarian coach of our national team used rotation: Viktoriia Danchak appeared on the court, and later Yevheniia Khober and Viktoria Oliinyk. The athletes did not spoil the porridge, as did all the other teammates in general. The Ukrainians gained momentum with each new rally and in the end brought the match to a well-deserved victory - 16:25.
It should be noted that reaching the finals will allow our national team to play in the Challenger Cup, the winner of which qualifies for the Nations League.
So we congratulate all our volleyball fans on the women's national team reaching the finals of the competition and on the Constitution Day of Ukraine!
Starting line-up of the National team of Ukraine: Sharhorodska, Dorsman (c), Maievska, Milenko, Dymar, Kraiduba, Niemtseva (l). Substitutes: Danchak, Oliinyk, Khober.
