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Sweden’s youngsters ready for European qualifier

26 OKT 2016 20:38

The 1st round of qualifications to the#EuroVolleyU18W is just around the corner. The national teams of Sweden, Georgia, Iceland and Kosovo will fight for the only ticket available to progress to the second stage of the competition.

Fler

Uppdaterad: 26 OKT 2016 20:46

The Swedish Volleyball Federation and RIG Falköping are happy and honoured to host this #EuroVolleyU18W qualifier. The tournament marks the start of an epic journey towards the 2017 CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship Finals that will be taking place next year in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

There are many people who have been longing for the games to begin in order to see a share of Europe’s most talented players perform, and when Iceland take on Sweden this Friday afternoon, the tournament will finally get underway.

The event conveniently takes place in the relatively small but loud arena of Frejahallen, which is home to Sweden's Volleyball Academy, the so-called RIG. As far as the Swedish national team competing this coming weekend is concerned, six out of 12 twelve players on the roster are currently combining their high-school studies with an elite Volleyball programme at the academy.

Robert Söderberg, coach of Sweden, is looking forward to the coming weekend: “We have a great feeling in the team coming into this tournament. We have had a couple of really good practices these last few days and are poised and ready to take on this challenge.”

Last week the Swedish U18 national team participated in the NEVZA U19 Championships in Ikast, Denmark. The results were mixed and the team finished the competition in fifth place after alternating solid performances with games where the Swedes probably had much more to give. “All in all we performed okay. Since then, we have steadily become better and especially this last training session we all felt was our best up to now. We communicate a lot more and play better and with more composure,” the Swedish coach adds.

Playing at home, in Sweden, doesn’t make it worse. “We have played on this court a thousand times and we are really looking forward to going out there and showing the home crowd what we can do. Being a part of this event is an amazing experience. I can’t wait to get started!” he concludes.

Click here for further information including a detailed match programme!

TEAM ROSTER

Evelina Granberg, IKSU
Filippa Brink, Engelholms VS
Catarina Cooper, KFUM Malmö Volley
Sofia Andersson, Norsjö VBK
Nike Fjätström, Engelholms VS
Tyra Areskoug, Lidingö SK
Ulrika Blomgren, Sollentuna VK
Hanna Hellvig, Lidingö SK
Tilde Thun, Engelholms VS
Wilma Calmfors, Värnamo VBA
Matilda Klarin Ekholm, Engelholms VS
Sandra Abrahamsson, IK Ymer

Coach: Robert Söderberg
Assistant coach: Josefine Tivefälth
Scout: Theo Biström

Date: 28 – 30 october 2016
Venue: Frejahallen, Falköping
Host City: Falköping (SWE)
Airport: Gothenburg (Landvetter)
Distance from airport to venue: 118 km
Participating Teams: 4 women's teams: Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Sweden
More info: CEV official website!