With a 3:0 (25:17, 25:13, 25:18) defeat to Turkey in the semifinals, the Montenegrin women's U18 national team ended the zonal qualification tournament for the 2026 European Championship, which is being played in Sofia.
Milan Milošević's team, however, have positive impressions from Sofia, where they secured a place in the second round of the European Championship qualifiers, which will be held in Latvia and Lithuania next year, by reaching the semifinals. odbojka.me.
How difficult this was is best demonstrated by the fact that Serbia, a volleyball powerhouse in all categories, did not advance to the second round, having been defeated by Greece 3:0 in the duel for 5th place today.
Montenegro defeated Greece in the first round, in a major upset 3:2 - perhaps this indicates that Anastasija Koprivica and her teammates played a rather stronger group, Group A.
In a duel with another superpower in all representative categories, Turkey, Montenegro started off great, leading 7:4, 8:5, 11:9... Unfortunately, the first part of the first set was the only period in the match in which our players could match the powerful Turkish team.
The rival made a 4:0 run with the score at 14:14, the Montenegrin volleyball players' concentration waned, especially on the serve, and when the basic element of the game was not up to par, there was no chance to do anything more against a selection of such "size".
The Turkish team settled the second and third sets right at the start, taking a 7:0 lead in the second and 10:3 in the third. Sofija Duletić and her teammates only managed to threaten in the last period of the game (approaching 16:14), but not enough to turn the game around.
Anastasija Koprivica had the best scoring performance for Montenegro (10), Sofija Duletić and Jelena Ćorović added six points each, Klara Đukić five, and Elena Čolaković four.
For Turkey, Aylin Uysalkan shone with 14 points, while Hiranur Bajgara also reached double figures with 11.
MONTENEGRO – TURKEY 0:3 (17:25, 13:25, 18:25)
Sofija - SC “Hristo Botev”. Spectators: 90. Referees: Cristian Eduard Botezatu (Romania) and Božidara Mitkova (Bulgaria).
Montenegro: Jovović, Lekić, Krasnići, Gudelj, Striković (libero), Duletić 6, Tošić (libero), Ćorović 6, Đukić 5, Peković 1, Glavanović, Čolaković 7, Koprivica 10, Milivojević.
Turska: Jildiz, Jener 5, Zeren (libero), Turkjasar 9, Luleci (libero), Bijgara 11, Atasoj 2, Sanlijer 1, Ozerol 8, Ujsalkan 14, Ozen, Guzonjić 4, Erdogan, Ozengin 2.
Bonus video:
