Ukraine's U20 national team has strengthened their position in the bronze medal series by defeating MHP-Ladyzhyn 3-1, taking a crucial 2-1 lead in the best-of-five contest.
The young Ukrainian squad displayed impressive skill at the Epicenter Sports Complex in Horodok on April 12, claiming the first two sets with scores of 25:23 and 25:21. MHP-Ladyzhyn managed to fight back in the third set (23:25), but Ukraine U20 closed out the match decisively with a dominant 25:14 fourth set performance.
Tatarenko and Shteryk led the scoring for Ukraine with 16 points each, while Veletskyi added 14 points to the tally. Svyrydov and Chervatyuk contributed 11 and 10 points respectively to the winning effort.
For the Vinnytsia-based MHP-Ladyzhyn, Mishchenko was the standout performer with 16 points, supported by Yakushenko with 13 and Chaban with 11 points.
According to Statbet analysis, teams that take a 2-1 lead in best-of-five volleyball series go on to win the series more than 70% of the time, putting Ukraine U20 in a favorable position.
The teams will meet again for the fourth match of the series on April 13 at 16:00. MHP-Ladyzhyn faces a must-win situation to extend the series and force a decisive fifth match on their home court.
