Finland is aiming for a fourth consecutive place in the women’s EC volleyball final tournament. In their opening match, the team will face Switzerland in Turku.
Riku Porvari,
Petri Hänninen
The Finnish women’s national volleyball team plays in Group A of the European Championship qualifiers with Germany and Switzerland. The opening match between Finland and Switzerland will be played on Sunday, August 18. In Turku. Match live on TV2 and Areena from 14:45.
– I think we play better volleyball than last year. Investing in attacking speed and passing has paid off. I believe we have evolved, Nicholas Buser convince.
Buser starts his second season as head coach of the Finnish women’s national volleyball team. The Swiss coach praises his young team and talks about the training camps that went well.
During the summer, Finland has mainly developed its attacking game. Passers offer balls to the hitting positions at a faster pace. The attackers, on the other hand, have tried to find versatile ways to score points. In addition, the team has invested in passing and receiving.
– The goal has been to develop our serve to such a level that we can challenge any opponent at any stage of the match, says Buser.
A place of forced victory
Sports expert Riikka Lehtonen states that in the Switzerland match there is a must-win spot ahead. The group winners advance directly to the European Championships, and in addition to them, the five best group runners-up get a place in the competition.
– Basically, Germany is definitely the sharpest top of the group. Finland and Switzerland compete for the title of the best group second. Now this is still a home game. We are talking about an absolutely important game, says Lehtonen.
He estimates that Switzerland and Finland are very similar teams. Both want to play a fast game, the passing game is moderate and the reception works.
– In my opinion, focusing on inputs is the right decision. It’s a really important part of playing, and the team has developed in it during this summer. On the other hand, those hard passes have certainly also developed Finland’s reception.
In the same breath, the expert states that serving and receiving are the basic pillars of the sport. An additional boost to Finland’s game, however, comes from the top passer Kaisa Alanko.
– Thanks to him, Finland is able – even if the ball doesn’t rise as well as it should – to still play from the middle. The team must be able to maximize Alango’s qualities and experience. A good addition to that is that Finland plays faster volleyball than before.
Playing abroad is an important plus
Expert Lehtonen believes that in the future Finland will succeed best as a united team. For example, there are no physical hackers in the player base, like Turk’s Melissa Vargaswho attack over the defense’s hands.
Finland’s game is led by experienced players such as Alanko, Daniela Öhman, Yasmine Madsen and just played his 100th international match Suvi Kokkonen.
– With their help, younger people can also take their place. Ada Aronen, Emilia Kääntä and Saana Lindgren showed their great skills last season, Lehtonen lists.
With the Finnish team in the match against Switzerland, there are eight players who are making a career abroad. One of them has moved from Puijo Wolley to French Quimper in the summer Ella Autere. The center back played for the first time for Finland in international matches against Estonia in August.
– Now there has been a clear trend for Finns to go abroad to play. I feel it is very important to get those individuals there. Through that comes the personal growth that is brought to the Finnish team. For example, Autere now gets the chance to show how he can help Finland with his own game.
A more challenging qualifying path than before
Finland will start the EC qualifiers on Sunday, August 18. The team is aiming for the fourth consecutive EC final tournament place.
Now Germany and Switzerland are playing in the same qualifying group. Germany is sixth in the European ranking and Switzerland is 26th. Finland is number 27 on the list. The challenge is tougher than previous years’ qualifiers.
For example, in the previous qualifiers, Finland’s opponents were a point weaker. In addition, there were one fewer qualifying groups, i.e. six. The system of seven groups means that the runner-up of the group will definitely not make it to the European Championships.
– All the teams in our group are quite good, so getting six points is a challenge – and six points might not even be enough to advance. Maybe batch ratio will solve it? We should possibly get a point from Germany as well, head coach Nikolas Buser estimates.
The Finnish women’s national volleyball team plays in Group A of the European Championship qualifiers with Germany and Switzerland. The opening match between Finland and Switzerland will be played on Sunday, August 18. In Turku. Match live on TV2 and Areena from 14:45.