The Montenegrin women's U16 volleyball team defeated Turkey 3:2 (34:32, 12:25, 28:26, 23:25, 15:13) in the sixth round of the group stage of the European Championship and recorded their third triumph at the competition in Pristina.
It was another great performance by our most talented generation, who, in an extremely difficult match, overcame the 2023 European runner-up in the U17 competition and took a big step towards qualifying for the World Cup.
The start of the match was as the "reds" could only wish for. They entered the duel with their peers from one of the strongest teams in Europe with six consecutive points on the serve of Sofija Duletić and turned it around to 6:1, and our volleyball players had a big +6 even after 20 points.
Then came the response from the rival, who led at times, but first Montenegro got the set points – 24:22 after a spike by Jana Mrdak. However, Koković's team, in one of the most exciting sets of the tournament, used only the eighth set point to take the lead, 34:32, while allowing their rivals two chances to win the set.
In the final, our talented girls showed perseverance and concentration and still took a well-deserved lead.
After a spectacular set, the Montenegrin volleyball team's performance plummeted. After a 9:9 tie, with a lead that went up to +3, Petar Koković's team completely stopped.
Turkey made an almost unreal run, 10:0, and our girls managed to break their rivals' points streak only three times until the end of the set, after which the Turkish girls tied the score, 25:12.
The forgettable set did not discourage our pioneers and in the end the reward came. They played boldly in the third part of the match, in a good part of which they were in the lead, which grew to +3 (12:9), but in the very end there was another decline, fortunately short-lived, but also a quick response. Turkey turned the game around with a 5:0 series and led 22:18, but did not take a step towards the lead.
With four consecutive points, Montenegro reached the first set point, 24:23, and as in the opening set, uncertainty followed. First, our volleyball players had to save their rivals' set point, then with a phenomenal block in one of the points of the match, they won a third chance for 2:1, which they took advantage of with an ace by Klara Đukić for 28:26.
It was close to a third victory in the tournament in four sets, although our team struggled quite a bit in the fourth set. Turkey took a tangible lead early on, 10:3, after which Montenegro had to chase. And they managed to catch up with their opponents, even maintaining the lead until 18:17, in a point-for-point game.
Turkey played great under pressure, in mini-series they were heading for a tie, which was met by a service error by Nađa Peković, for 25:23.
The exhausting fourth set slowed down Montenegro, so Turkey, carried by the fact that they were still in the match, took a 4:1 lead, and at the end of the match they had a big 8:4. That was not enough, as another exciting finish went to the "reds". On the serve of Staša Jovović, the Turkish player made a mistake at the net, then a spike by Sofija Duletić on a block, from which there was no escape. Montenegro won one of the biggest victories in the history of women's volleyball with 15:13.
Another great scoring performance by Klara Đukić, who finished the match with 24 points, and again at an exceptionally high level was Sofija Duletić, who scored 19. Great contributions came from Jana Mrdak with 16, Jelena Ćorović with 14 points, Bojana Krasnić added eight, and Nađa Peković with three points and Mija Pođanin who scored one.
In this way, Montenegro has maintained its chances of being among the six European Championship teams that will secure a place at the World Cup, and they will have the opportunity to do so in the match against Slovenia, which they will meet tomorrow, at 12.30:XNUMX p.m.
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