The Finnish women’s national volleyball team opened the EC qualifiers with a 3-1 away win against Montenegro in Pljevlja.
22:51•Updated 23:06
The reception of the Finnish volleyball women was in trouble in the fourth set, but after a fierce battle, Montenegro fell after the sixth match point 26–24. With a 3–1 win (23-25, 25-12, 25-14, 26-24), Finland got off to a tasty start to the EC qualifiers.
The head coach Tapio Kangasniemi was happy with the end result.
– Three great rises during the game, that’s always a sign of a strong team. There were also important rises from individual players: Suvi Kokkonen, Jessica Kosonen and Netta Rekola. When one person has a little trouble, the other one steps up and helps. We saw team play at its best.
Kokkonen was the team’s best scorer with 22/+14. Kaisa Alangon also enjoy the service Roosa Laakkonen 17/+15 and Rekola 15/+12.
Kangasniemi considered Finland’s victory to be a special game of international level, where the blue and whites won the battle precisely by attacking.
– The pass was found after the opening set and that was an important thing in our own game.
Finland, which is aiming for a third consecutive place in the final tournament, is ranked second in its qualifying group and is basically fighting with Montenegro for the second place in the group. The two best of the group advance to next year’s EC final tournament. The Czech Republic is the big favorite in the group.
– The opposition will get tougher for the next game and of course we will start preparing for it right away. A couple of training sessions to get things right again and then attack the Czech Republic, Kangasniemi said
Finland’s opening was on Sunday: Kaisa Alanko, Yasmine MadsenJessica Kosonen, Suvi Kokkonen, Roosa Laakkonen, Netta Rekola, Netta Laaksonen (L).