Already out of the European Championship, Portugal beats Cyprus by the maximum margin
ssuperior to the opposing team in all chapters, the fourth team from the ‘quinas’ sealed the triumph with partials of 25-16, 25-10 and 25-13 and guaranteed third place, above the Cypriots, the last classified, with zero, and below Ukraine, first, with 14, as well as Hungary, which is second, with 10, and which Portugal visits on Saturday.
At the Santo Tirso Municipal Pavilion, as the hostesses explored the ‘shortcomings’ requested, adding up the request at reception, three points to open, and the time-out in the Cyprus coach Loizos Loizou, with 5-1 ‘scorer’, proved incapable to change the course of a ‘set’ in which the Portuguese advantage was accentuated.
Portugal ‘extended’ their account with cross shots either by Margarida Maia – the best scorer of the match, with 14 points -, or by Julia Kavalenka, and with direct or reflected services out, but also put several balls out, both in the service , as in the attack, which earned Cyprus 10 out of 16 points in the opening set.
Stronger in service, reception and attack, he improved at the orders of Hugo Silva, improved his aim in the shot, limited errors and resulted in a closed result even more uneven in the second, giving him a mate result from Amanda Cavalcanti in the center of the network, without any ‘outline’ of Cypriot reaction.
The third set started more evenly, with the Mediterranean team taking the advantage of the match, by 2-1, in the services of Emília Demetriou, before Portugal reached five points in a row, in the services of Gabriela Coelho, and extended the advantage on the same record as the first two sets, until the match closed with a service from Vasiliki Riala to the net.
Game held at the Municipal Pavilion of Santo Tirso.
Portugal – Cyprus, 3-0.
Partials: 25-16, 25-10 and 25-13.
Under referee Jörg Kellenberger (Germany) and Maria de las Olas Rodríguez Machín (Spain), the teams are lined up with:
– Portugal: Amanda Cavalcanti, Gabriela Coelho, Lila Durão, Carina Moura, Margarida Maia, Julia Kavalenka and Joana Resende (libero). Also playing: Ana Figueiras, Matilde Rodrigues (libero) and Alice Clemente.
Coach: Hugo Silva.
– Cyprus: (libero). Also playing: Vasiliki Riala, Emília Demetriou, Elena Tsoutsouki, Eirini Ioannou, Aikaterini Kesta, Erica Zembyla and Christiana David (libero). Also playing: Anni Prokopiou, Andrea Dobrasinovic, Paraskevi Pechlivani and Georgia Hadjicharalambous.
Coach: Loizos Loizou.
Attendance: about 200 spectators.