Our national team women welcomed their first meeting at the U19 World Cup with great expectations, but also with slight trepidation. Osijek is the host, and everyone wants to present themselves in the best light to the home audience. The initial trepidation, if it existed, had already disappeared by the first set, which our players lost 20:25 – solely due to their own mistakes. At the end of that set, they made as many as four mistakes, and a total of 12 in the whole set (while the Germans made half as many mistakes).
Additional combativeness followed. The second set was tight, from a 23:20 lead to a 23:23 tie, after which the Croatian team requested a one-minute rest. With two consecutive points, our players still won the set, tying the score at 1:1 and allowing for a calmer continuation of the match. Croatia convincingly won the third set with a score of 25:17, having already registered seven aces by then, but still with too many mistakes – 32 in total.
In the third set, the Croatian national team completely controlled the game, entered the fourth set very well and took the lead with 11:6. However, the persistent Germans managed to equalize at 11:11 and force the selection Ilić to another minute of rest with the result 14:16. A fierce fight for every point followed. In the end, the Germans, with two key blocks, won the set with a score of 25:22, even though Croatia was leading 22:21. By then, they had already scored ten points with a block (Croatia seven), and our players had 41 errors by the fourth set (Germans 30), which led the match to the decisive fifth set.
Croatia opens the fifth set with a 3:0 lead, but after 4:1, the opponents return to 4:4. We go to the change of sides with an 8:5 advantage, and after two hours of play, our girls win the decisive set with a score of 15:10 for a final 3:2 in sets.
Croatia was better in attack (54 points against 41) and in services (12 against 4), while the Germans dominated in the block (10 against 9) and made fewer mistakes (32 against Croatia’s 45). The best Croatian player was Asja Zolota with 22 points (including 4 aces), Maša Mlinar added 18 points, Lana Francetić contributed 14 points (2 aces), and Klara Vasilj recorded 11 points (4 blocks and 2 aces).
Selector Svetlana Ilić said very emotionally after the game:
Maybe it’s a good thing that everything we talked about and thought about, and what we believed in, really came true today. We knew that Germany would not be an easy opponent on this path we were on. We also knew that we would have to take risks that could cost us results, but without taking those risks, we could not win. Certain moments clearly showed us how dangerous every mistake at this level is and how much five minutes of deconcentration can cost you. I am honestly happy because I believed in these girls and this team. We worked hard for a month, and this match was exactly what we wanted. But this victory is only the first step. We will continue tomorrow – we will rest and try to achieve another victory at the same time.
The Croatian under-19 national team will play against Mexico tomorrow in the second round, starting at 6:15 p.m.
SOURCE: Croatian Volleyball Federation
