Sofia, Bulgaria, April 18, 2017. Russia and Bulgaria are the two teams from Pool I to qualify for the semifinals of 2018 CEV U17 Volleyball European Championship – Women. The Russian team needed 67 minutes to seize a victory over Hungary and this way to secure their spot in the semis of the competition and Bulgaria started well in their match vs. Serbia and despite having lost the third set, the players of Stojan Gunchev took a 3-1 win. Russia meet the team of Turkey in a battle for a place in the final, while Bulgaria will have to play with the unbeaten favorite from Pool II - Italy. On Wednesday, Slovenia took a very important win over Belarus (3-1) to continue their journey at the #EuroVolleyU17W after making sure they will finish among the top eight teams from the competition. 

Belarus vs. Slovenia 1-3 (25-27, 22-25, 25-20, 19-25)

•    With the result being 18-22 in the first set, Darya Sauchuk from Belarus got injured and was replaced by Victoryia Tychynina. Although Belarus saved six set points  in a row to make the score equal (24-24, 25-25) eventually Slovenia closed the set at 27-25. 
•    Neither Belarus, nor Slovenia were giving up in the second part, following each other constantly in the score. The players around Dzmitry Kot were leading as the set was unfolding but they couldn’t keep their lead and somehow fell apart. The Slovenians took advantage of it and turned things in their favour, thus doubling their lead in the match. 
•    The players of Belarus were able to take the third set, but Slovenia reacted well in the fourth one and despite the fact that the teams exchanged the lead constantly, Slovenia claimed an all-important win that secures them a spot among the best eight teams in Europe.