Estonia crowned winner in Golden Set

The first match on Thursday morning of the A1 CEV BeachVolley Nations Cup was played by Estonia and the Czech Republic. Bercik/Dzavoronok on the Czech side played against the Estonians Korotkov/Kais. After the first points from the Estonian team, the Czechs took the lead, but Estonia quickly caught up and tied the match at 8:8. After that, the two teams rallied for points until the Czech team reached a 5-point lead and they improved their score in the match to 20:15, which led to a set point and a shortly followed victory for the the Czechs.

The two teams started the second set evenly with strong sideouts. A tie was established at 6:6. A strong shot by Bercik and a block by Dzavoronok gave the Czech Republic the lead. A technical timeout followed at a score of 11:10 for the Czech team. After the timeout, the Czech newcomers quickly surged ahead to a score of 18:14, after which the Estonians called a timeout. Especially remarkable were the 5 blocks that the Czechs put up in this set. Korotkov/Kais were able to recover two points after the short break, but then the Czechs had their first match point again, which was fended off by the Estonians. After a total of three set points, the Estonian team caught up to 20:20 and, after a strong defense, actually managed to win the second set 23:21.

The third set: Equally motivated and full of fighting spirit, the two men's teams fought their way forward point by point. With the score at 9:7 for the Estonians, the Czechs took a timeout. The plan worked, they caught up,  reached the tie at 9:9 and started leading with 2 points, which caused the Estonians to call a timeout for themselves. The short gathering of strength was not enough, the Czechs secured the third set 15:12 and thus won match number 1.

In the second match, Sepka/Semerad (CZE) and Nolvak/Tiisaar (EST) played against each other. The two teams started the first set very balanced. The Estonian team took the lead at a score of 4:3 and took another two points with two strong blocks from Tiisaar. The Czechs took a timeout and made up a point right after. Still, they could not close their gap. The Estonians continued to show their strength in blocking and with an ace service. Score: 13:8 for Estonia, a technical timeout followed. The Estonians continued to stay in the lead and, with the score at 20:21, mastered their set point with flying colors, making them the winners of the first set.

The winners of the first set took the lead from the beginning in the second set as well. With a strong attack strategy, the Czechs were able to catch up to a tie of 8:8. Efforts not to fall behind again were definitely there on the Czech side as well, as the players fought their way forward point by point until another tie at 16:16. Two strong shots from Nolvak gave the Estonians a 2-point lead and the Czechs called a timeout, which helped them bring the deficit back to even at 18:18. Nevertheless, the first match point came on the Estonian side, which Nolvak himself put into the net. The second match point was successful and the Estonians won the second match 21:19.

In the Golden Set, the teams were mixed up and the coaches sent Nolvak/Tiisaar once again on the Estonian side, while the Czech Republic gave their men from the previous match a break and sent the players from the first match Bercik/Dzavoronok to the center court. In general, the Estonians showed a confident game tactic in the Golden Set and were still the better team despite the fighting nature of the Czechs. Strong blocks by Tiisaar and Bercik's well executed shots and attacks helped the Estonians to win the Golden Set with a score of 15:6.

This shows a Nations Score of Estonia 2: 1 Czech Republic.