August 20, 2021 - The Croatia women's volleyball team opens EuroVolley in Zadar with a win against Switzerland! Up next, Croatia faces Belarus on Saturday. 

In the European Women's Volleyball Championship first match of Group C, hosted in Zadar, Croatia defeated Switzerland with a convincing 3-0 (25:20, 25:19, 25:21).

In the Krešimir Ćosić Hall in Višnjik, the Croatia women's team opened the European competition with a celebration against Switzerland and without losing a set after 71 minutes of play. In the first set, middle blocker and freshly 21-year-old Božana Butigan had a 100 percent performance in the attack by scoring five points.

Daniele Santarelli's team was decisive for the outcome in the middle of the first and second sets, while Switzerland offered the fiercest resistance in the third set, in which they had a 12:8 lead. However, another great period followed for Croatia, winning 12 of the next 15 points and taking the 20:15 lead to calmly bring the match to an end by a maximum of three points.

Laura Miloš with 18 points and captain Samanta Fabris with 13 points were the most effective for Croatia against Switzerland. 

This is Croatia's fifth consecutive victory over Switzerland in the last ten years.

"I couldn't sleep all night because of the excitement. This is the first European Championship for me, the first game. The victory was significant to us, and I am overjoyed that we started this tournament with a victory. We are focused on the opponent who is coming to us next because we are going from game to game," said Miloš after the match.

"The first match is never easy. Everyone is nervous, so we didn’t know what awaited us during this match. Our game was not the best, but at certain moments we had outstanding actions. Some situations, we can still correct, even though we don’t have much time. This was a good start; we showed a good game, although, in the first set, we did not have a strong defense and blocks," said coach Daniele Santarelli. 

Before the match, the European Championship opening ceremony was held, which was attended by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Plenković, accompanied by Minister of Sport and Tourism Nikolina Brnjac, Minister of Defense Mario Banožić, and Minister of Labor and Pensions, Family and Social Policy Josip Aladrović.

Italy and Belarus, and Hungary and Slovakia will meet today in Group C. Croatia will play against Belarus in the second round on August 21. Group A is played in Belgrade, Group B in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and Group D in Cluj, Romania.

Source: HRT

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May 17, 2021 - The Croatia men's volleyball team defeated the Netherlands in Apeldoorn 3-2 (27-25, 25-23, 18-25, 24-26, 15-13) on Sunday and secured a spot at the European Championship, which will take place from 1 to September 19 in Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Finland.

This will be Croatia's first participation in the European Championship after 2015, when they finished the competition in Italy with three group-stage defeats, reports HRT.

The match in Apeldoorn was full of nerves, a difficult psychological encounter, but no less physically demanding, because the day before, Croatia defeated Sweden in five sets. At the same time, the Netherlands had one more day to rest.

Ivan Raič, Croatia's corrector who, along with Filip Šestan, was the most efficient with 17 points, revealed after the match:

"We knew before the game that one set was enough for us to be among the best second-placed national teams going to the Euros, but we started quite nervously. Still, we showed that we had character at the end of the first set. We played more relaxed. In fact, it was only then that we started to play more freely. I think it was a good, quality, and interesting match in which we deservedly celebrated in the end."

Indeed, Croatia showed its character in that first set, winning 27-25. The Netherlands led 10-7, 17-13, 23-20 and had a set-ball at 25-24, but Emanuele Zanini's team turned the lead in their favor and won the first set for a spot in the European Championship.

In the second set, Zanini's team led for the most part, although the hosts put up a fight. The set ended at 25.23. Instead of solving the game with 3-0 sets, the third and fourth sets went to the Netherlands, the fourth especially easily.

However, once again, Croatia played the best when it was most needed. The fifth set went to Croatia with 15-13 for the final celebration on the court, which they certainly deserved.

They played bravely, on the verge of risk, which paid off in the end. Croatia's captain and longest-serving member, along with Ivan Raič, did not hide his happiness after the match.

"I would like to congratulate my team, the entire professional staff, and all the people who believed in us. It is difficult to describe the feelings at the moment after this long-awaited triumph for which we have worked hard. We will be maximally prepared for the Euro, and believe me, we will not disappoint you," said Tsimafei Zhukuoski.

The Netherlands won first place in qualifying group A with ten points, while Croatia won seven and took its place among the top five runners-up to play in the European Championship.

24 national teams will take part in this year's Euro. The hosts Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Finland, and the eight best national teams from the last European Championship (Serbia, Slovenia, France, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, and Belgium), had the direct right to play. In the qualifications, 12 more teams were wanted for the Euro. In addition to Croatia, there is also the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Turkey, Latvia, Slovakia, Greece, Portugal, Northern Macedonia, Spain, Belarus, and Montenegro.

Next weekend, Croatian is back in action, this time in the Silver Group of the European League, which will be great preparation for the European Championship.

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