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Sweden Blows a 2-0 Lead and Survives
A crowd of 6,220 in Gothenburg was a Swedish record for the women's game, according to CEV. The fifth set was not close. The hosts took it 15-6.
Sweden had never drawn a crowd like this for a women's volleyball match. Then it nearly lost in front of it.
The hosts beat Slovakia 3-2 at the Scandinavium in Göteborg on Saturday, 25-22, 25-16, 14-25, 22-25, 15-6, with 6,220 people in the building. CEV called the figure a Swedish attendance record for the women's game.
Sweden led two sets to none and needed five.
Isabelle Haak Scored 38 Points
Haak was the best scorer in the match with 38 points, and her sister Anna Haak added 17. Between them the Haaks accounted for 55 of Sweden's points on a night the rest of the roster mostly held the floor around them.
The only other individual total CEV reported was Slovakia's Karin Sunderlikova, who had 11 points in the first set alone. Her team lost that set 25-22 and then lost the second 25-16.
It then won the third 25-14.
The Middle Two Sets Belonged to Slovakia
Sweden won its three sets by 21 points combined and lost its two by 14. On the arithmetic that is not a close match, and for most of an hour it was one. Isabelle Haak was asked afterwards what had happened in the middle of it.
Slovakia stepped up and successfully put a lot of pressure on us. We lost our momentum for a bit, and they used that going into the fourth set. We need to do better in the upcoming matches.
The read from the other bench was not far off it, and Sunderlikova gave hers after the match.
Today, I think we showed that we know how to play against very strong teams. The energy we had on court today was very important.
Italy Did Not Need Five
Italy beat Montenegro 3-0 in the same building, 25-13, 25-20, 25-19, with Ekaterina Antropova serving six aces. It is Italy's second straight sweep in Göteborg.
Saška Đurović led Montenegro's scoring and put the start down to nerves at a first European Championship, saying things got better once the team relaxed. Paola Egonu had been asked about Sweden before Italy played, and specifically about Isabelle Haak.
I mean, we know there is an amazing player like Bella Haak, but also the rest of the team, so I think we'll just focus and try to make our own game and stay focused.
The tournament is running in four cities at once, Göteborg, Istanbul, Brno and Baku, and Sweden's pool is the one being played at home. Italy is in it too, which is the part Sweden will care about.
Sweden has the record and one win. It also has two sets on tape it would rather nobody watched.
