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The Estonian men’s volleyball team ended their summer with a stunning win in the European Championships Qualifying Series at Kalevi Stadium, defeating Croatia in three games. Head coach Alar Rikberg told ERR that he was proud of the entire team because everyone was on the same page.
In front of their home fans, the Estonian national team controlled the match against Croatia from start to finish and won a solid victory 3:0 (25:16, 25:19, 25:22) This is the national team’s last game of the summer, as the next matches in the European Championship qualifying series will not take place until next year, but Estonia will face them as the leaders of Group D.
Head coach Alar Rickberg said the team was in good shape. “There were moments today when all the hard work came back and you loved being on the sidelines,” he said. “Even in the first game, the whole team played like gold. Opponents played hard, hit the ball hard with their hands, defenders were in the right spots, blockers were in the right positions. That’s the magic of this kind of volleyball, when you draw something on paper and the guys do it on the court.”
“I’m very happy and satisfied with the whole team and (staff) because we did what we had to do. In these two important games in the Euro qualifiers the team was in very good shape and we got two wins and six points,” Rickberg added.
The coach said the team lost focus a bit in the third game but quickly recovered in a tense situation. “To my delight, a minute passed and everything was back to normal. All in all, we were still dominant, which is what I want from the Estonian team and what the whole of Estonia wants to see on the court. We played beautiful volleyball,” he said.
In addition, Rickberg is satisfied that Estonia’s opponents in the group stage are Croatia and Israel, which he called a severely underestimated team. “Now, I am satisfied that we ended up in such a group. If Latvian volleyball beat Kosovo 3-0, it would be difficult for them to make big progress in their development. In the group, there are many such people, Georgians and others, who we will not play against,” Rickberg said.
The team worked hard all summer and won two important victories. There will be a sauna session on Saturday and then focus on the upcoming club season. “Unfortunately for many men we haven’t seen them again for eight months. We talked, it was good, and then I guess no one went on vacation,” Rickberg concluded.
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