European Women's Volleyball Championship 2007

The 2007 European Women's Volleyball Championship took place from September 20 to 30, 2007 in Belgium and Luxembourg . The German team took the eleventh place in the 2005 European Championships , this time the sixth. Italy became the new European champion . For the first time, 16 teams took part. The games were played in Charleroi , Hasselt and Luxembourg .

mode

The tournament began with a preliminary round in four groups (A – D) with four teams each. The winner of a group game received two points, the loser one point. The top three teams in each group reached the second round. There two groups of six (E and F) were formed, whereby the results from the direct duels of the first round were adopted. The two best teams of the two groups reached the semi-finals, in which the pairings were drawn. The semi-final winners determined the new European champion in the final, the losers played for third place. The other placement games did not take place.

game schedule

First round

The German women, who had won five games in a row in the Grand Prix qualification shortly before the World Cup , started the tournament in Group A with a clear defeat against Italy. With the following victories against Azerbaijan and Belarus, Giovanni Guidetti's team was able to qualify for the next round. The Italians won the group unbeaten, while Azerbaijan’s opening win against Belarus was enough to advance to the second round.

In Group B it was getting tighter for Poland from game to game, but the defending champions remained undefeated. After the defeat by Poland, the Czech Republic advanced 3-0 against Spain. The women from Bulgaria had to go over five sets in all three preliminary round matches and reached the intermediate round with a win.

Group A in Charleroi
space	team	sentences	Points	BPQ
1.	Italy	9: 1	6th	1.290
2.	Germany	6: 4	5	1.168
3.	Azerbaijan	3: 6	4th	0.891
4th	Belarus	2: 9	3	0.748

September 20th	Azerbaijan	Belarus	3-0
	Germany	Italy	0: 3
21st September	Germany	Azerbaijan	3-0
September 22	Germany	Belarus	3: 1
	Italy	Azerbaijan	3-0
September 23rd	Belarus	Italy	1: 3

Group B in Hasselt
space	team	sentences	Points
1.	Poland	9: 3	6th	1.104
2.	Czech Republic	7: 5	5	1.081
3.	Bulgaria	7: 8	4th	0.939
4th	Spain	2: 9	3	0.898

September 20th	Spain	Bulgaria	2: 3
21st September	Bulgaria	Czech Republic	2: 3
	Poland	Spain	3-0
September 22	Czech Republic	Poland	1: 3
September 23rd	Czech Republic	Spain	3-0
	Bulgaria	Poland	2: 3

Without losing a set, Russia finished first in Group C and finally defeated France 3-0. The French had previously qualified for the second round with two wins. Turkey also managed to do just that. After two 3-0 defeats, the Turks were already 2-0 down against Croatia before turning the game around to 3-2.

In Group D, no team remained undefeated. The Netherlands were defeated after two wins in the tiebreaker against Serbia, which had lost 3-2 to Slovakia at the beginning. Belgium advanced to the next round with a 3-0 win against the same opponent.

Group C in Charleroi
space	team	sentences	Points	BPQ
1.	Russia	9-0	6th	1.232
2.	France	6: 4	5	1.036
3.	Turkey	3: 8	4th	0.940
4th	Croatia	3: 9	3	0.873

September 20th	Russia	Croatia	3-0
21st September	Croatia	France	1: 3
	Turkey	Russia	0: 3
September 22	France	Turkey	3-0
September 23rd	France	Russia	0: 3
	Croatia	Turkey	2: 3

Group D in Hasselt
space	team	sentences	Points
1.	Netherlands	8: 4	5	1.149
2.	Serbia	8: 7	5	1.101
3.	Belgium	6: 6	4th	0.969
4th	Slovakia	3: 8	4th	0.775

September 20th	Slovakia	Serbia	3: 2
	Netherlands	Belgium	3: 1
21st September	Netherlands	Slovakia	3-0
September 22	Serbia	Netherlands	3: 2
	Belgium	Slovakia	3-0
September 23rd	Serbia	Belgium	3: 2

Second round

In Group E, which was made up of the best teams in Groups A and C, Germany won 3-0 against Turkey at the start of the second round after a tight third set. After the subsequent defeat against Russia, the DVV team had no chance of the semi-finals, for which the Russians and Italians qualified. On the last day of the match, the women from Italy managed to win the group, while the Germans qualified for the next European Championship with a win against France and sixth place.

In Group F, with the best teams in Groups B and D, Poland managed to make it into the top four with three more victories. The Netherlands stayed with their two successes without losing a set, but missed the qualification for the semi-finals due to their defeat against Poland, because Serbia prevailed against the Czech Republic.

Group E in Charleroi
space	team	sentences	Points	BPQ
1.	Italy	15: 1	10	1,339
2.	Russia	12: 3	9	1.151
3.	Germany	9: 6	8th	1.073
4th	France	7:10	7th	0.914
5.	Turkey	3:12	6th	0.902
6th	Azerbaijan	1:15	5	0.739

25th of September	Italy	France	3: 1
	Germany	Turkey	3-0
	Azerbaijan	Russia	0: 3
September 26th	Italy	Turkey	3-0
	Germany	Russia	0: 3
	Azerbaijan	France	1: 3
September 27th	Italy	Russia	0: 3
	Germany	France	3-0
	Azerbaijan	Turkey	0: 3

Group F in Hasselt
space	team	sentences	Points	BPQ
1.	Poland	15: 4	10	1.171
2.	Serbia	11: 8	9	1.086
3.	Netherlands	12: 7	8th	1.059
4th	Belgium	9:11	7th	0.956
5.	Czech Republic	5:14	6th	0.904
6th	Bulgaria	6:15	5	0.873

25th of September	Bulgaria	Netherlands	0: 3
	Poland	Serbia	3-0
	Czech Republic	Belgium	1: 3
September 26th	Bulgaria	Serbia	1: 3
	Czech Republic	Netherlands	0: 3
	Poland	Belgium	3-0
September 27th	Czech Republic	Serbia	0: 3
	Poland	Netherlands	3: 1
	Bulgaria	Belgium	1: 3

Placement games

All games in the final round took place in Luxembourg . In the first semifinal, Italy defeated four-time European champions Russia in three sets. Then Serbia prevailed against defending champions Poland without losing a set. The Russians won the game for third place against Poland and thus achieved the same placements as in the previous European Championship. The Italians did not lose a set in the final and won the title for the first time two years after winning the silver medal.

	Semifinals				final
	September 29th
	Italy	3
	Russia	0
					30. September
					Italy	3
					Serbia	0
					3rd place match
	September 29th				30. September
	Serbia	3			Russia	3
	Poland	0			Poland	1

Final score

rank	team	sentences	BPQ
Final rounds
1	Italy	21: 1	1,092
2	Serbia	14:11	1.059
3	Russia	15: 7	1,092
4th	Poland	16:10	1.074
Not in the semifinals
5	Netherlands	12: 7	1.059
6th	Germany	9: 6	1.073
7th	Belgium	9:11	0.956
8th	France	7:10	0.914
9	Czech Republic	5:14	0.904
10	Turkey	3:12	0.902
11	Bulgaria	6:15	0.873
12	Azerbaijan	1:15	0.739
Not in the second round
13	Croatia	3: 8	0.873
14th	Slovakia	3: 8	0.775
15th	Spain	2: 9	0.898
16	Belarus	2: 9	0.748

Germany played with: Kathleen Weiß , Heike Beier , Maren Brinker , Mareen Apitz , Cornelia Dumler , Christiane Fürst , Corina Ssuschke , Kathy Radzuweit , Margareta Kozuch , Atika Bouagaa , Angelina Grün and Kerstin Tzscherlich . The coach was Giovanni Guidetti .

Individual awards

The new European champions Italy not only had the most valuable player, but also the best blocker and Libera in their ranks. The other awards also went to the four best teams in the tournament.

most valuable player (MVP)	Taismary Aguero	Italy
best scorer	Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gamova	Russia
best attacker	Małgorzata Glinka	Poland
best blocker	Jenny Barazza	Italy
best server	Jovana Brakočević	Serbia
best Libera	Paola Cardullo	Italy
best player	Maja Ognjenović	Serbia

qualification

In addition to hosts Belgium , the teams that finished one to six at the EM 2005 were automatically qualified. These are defending champions Poland , the second Italy , the third Russia , the fourth Azerbaijan , the fifth Netherlands and the sixth Turkey .

In six groups of four teams each, 24 teams played for the remaining nine places in the summer of 2006. Two tournaments were held in each group. The group winners qualified directly, the runners-up had to contest an additional playoff round with a return leg.

In group A with Greece , Moldova , Sweden and Spain (June 2nd to 4th in Spain and June 16th to 18th in Greece) the Spanish women prevailed over Greece.

In Group B with Austria , the Czech Republic , Ukraine and Hungary (May 26th to 28th in Hungary and June 2nd to 4th in the Czech Republic) the women from the Czech Republic qualified directly and the Ukraine went into the playoff round.

In Group C, the German team met France , Georgia and Latvia . After the DVV tried in vain to organize a tournament, the German women had to compete in Georgia from May 26th to 28th and in France from June 2nd to 4th. They won all six games without losing a set and easily qualified for the finals. The French women took second place.

Group D tournaments with Bulgaria , Israel , Portugal and Slovakia took place from May 26th to 28th in Bulgaria and June 2nd to 4th in Slovakia. Bulgaria and Slovakia also took the first two places in this group.

In Group E with Finland , Luxembourg , Serbia and Slovenia , the hosts of the tournaments (May 26th to 28th in Serbia and June 9th to 11th in Slovenia) also secured first and second places.

In Group F, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Romania and Belarus played in tournaments from June 2nd to 4th in Romania and from June 16th to 18th in Bosnia. Croatia prevailed over Belarus.

The runners-up playoff games took place on September 2 and 9. France won the two games against Greece in Saint-Brieuc 3-1 and Gryfada 3-0. Belarus qualified for the finals with a 3-0 home win and a 3-2 in Slovenia. Slovakia prevailed 3-1 and 3-2 against Ukraine.

media

After the Austrian Internet broadcaster Laola1.tv took over the broadcast of the men's EM for a short time, the women's games were also broadcast in a free live stream.

Web links

• Information of the CEV (English)