At the same time, the Lithuanian national team coached by Mateusz Zarczynski returned to the European and world rankings. Now the Lithuanian national team is ranked 32nd in the European ranking (CEV), and 61st in the world (Volleyball World).
The coach of the Lithuanian national team is happy with the team’s performance in Denmark, where they were defeated 3-0 by the Danish and Luxembourg teams, and the 2-3 defeat against Albania in the last match did not prevent them from taking first place.
“We had a good preparation before this tournament. We knew from the beginning that the first match against the Danes would be very important, so we showed our best volleyball in this meeting, both from the athletic and emotional side and concentration. The first victory made me feel psychologically easier. In fact, nothing in Denmark surprised me too much – I expected to secure a ticket to the Europa League after the first two days, but I didn’t think that both victories would be so sure”, – M. Zarczynski spoke.
The main stage of the Europa League starts already this weekend. As a result, Lithuanians have little time for additional training.
“The tournament in Denmark required a lot of emotional and physical strength. We saw that in the third match. Now our priority is to recover as soon as possible, both physically and psychologically as a team. We don’t have much time to improve various things, because we only have two training sessions before the Europa League. That’s why we are concentrating on recovery, rhythm and attitude for a new start,” the coach emphasized.
The Lithuanian volleyball players will start their European League tour in Osijek (Croatia), where they will face the Greek women on Saturday and the Croatian women on Sunday.
The Greek national team ranks 30th in the world and 18th in Europe. The women’s clubs of this country constantly compete in the strongest European tournaments. Croatia is 35th in the ranking of the planet, 20th in Europe.
“Yes, now we will meet stronger opponents, but sometimes it is even easier to play like that than when we are favorites. We will go to Croatia to fight. I don’t want to talk about the results, I want us to fight, give all our strength and win as many sets as possible. I don’t know if we will be able to win the match yet, but we want to leave our hearts on the court and leave with our heads held high after every match,” said M. Zarczynski.
On June 12-13, the Lithuanian volleyball players will visit Sweden, where they will meet the teams of this country and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on June 19-21, the Lithuanian national team will play in their country, where they will host the teams of Portugal and Romania.
A total of 24 teams from the Old Continent will compete in the CEV Europa League. After summing up the results of all groups, the final standings of the teams will be revealed, and the four strongest national teams will participate in the final round.
A challenge for both the national team and the federation
The President of the Lithuanian Volleyball Federation (LTF) Darius Čerka is happy with the return of the Lithuanian national team and the demonstrated game.
“Getting to the main stage of the CEV European League is a very big challenge for both our team and the entire Lithuanian Volleyball Federation. The girls have already proven that they are worthy of fighting at the European level – their performance in the selection showed character, maturity and faith in their own strength. The Lithuanian women’s national team, restored after a ten-year break, is already leaving a very strong impression. I think that all this is regular – in sports, every result comes with its own time.” – said D. Čerka.
At the same time, the LTF president admits that a successful return and campaign in the European League requires more and more resources. These are new challenges for LTF.
“Participation at such a level requires extraordinary financial decisions and additional resources. We hope that the appearance of Lithuanian volleyball players in Europe under the flag of our country will attract the attention of those responsible for sports funding. Such achievements show that investments in volleyball can yield real results and create success stories of Lithuanian sports in the international arena,” emphasized D. Čerka.
