After losing to CEZ KARLOVARSKO in the second round of the elite CEV Champions League, Mladost ZAGREB resumed on Thursday night their journey in the European Cups by contesting a home match in the 32nd Finals of the CEV Cup. Mladost found another Czech team standing on the opposite side of the net – SKV USTI NAD LABEM – but this time they managed to storm to a comprehensive 3-0 victory (26-24, 25-23, 25-12).
Mladost libero Kristian Smiljanic celebrates a comprehensive victory for his team
“We knew from the videos we had watched that this match would not have been an easy one. In the second set, we started pretty well but we made a few mistakes towards the end. We still managed to win that set and in the third set, we showed our best performance and real game. I am proud of my team because it was a good match from our side.”
Kristian Smiljanic
Libero of Mladost ZAGREB
Many years ago, during the 1998/1999 season, Mladost and the Czech team had locked horns in the CEV Champions Cup – in a match played according to the ‘old’ Volleyball rules in place before the introduction of the rally point system.
Radovan Gacic, head coach of Mladost ZAGREB: “We knew that USTI NAD LABEM is a difficult team to play with even though they are not doing so well in the Czech national league. By watching some videos, we realised this could have been a difficult match if we were not to deliver a good performance. I think we did not start so well, but slowly found our rhythm – even though the second set was close, actually we controlled it from start to end and we should not waste too many words about the third set where we claimed a 7-0 advantage right from the go. This run practically ended the set already. As for the re-match in the Czech Republic, we obviously want to play better than we did tonight and do so right from the start, as our goal is to qualify for the next round.”
Marek Beer, middle blocker of SKV USTI NAD LABEM: “I am disappointed with the result and 0-3 loss because we played a good match, especially in the first and second sets. It is a pity that we did not win the first set and this happened because of our own mistakes – that is definitely a missed opportunity. After that, Mladost showed their quality, especially in the third set, where they scored – I think – four aces in a row. I still believe we showed that we can play good Volleyball and I hope we can do even better at home next week.”
Mladost setter Petar Visic in action during the match with SKV USTI NAD LABEM
“The first two sets were close but Mladost’s experience made the difference in their favour in the end. We lost the first set by our own mistakes and when the course of the second set changed in favour of Mladost, it was the deciding moment of the match. Mladost pushed us right from the start of the third set and we made so many mistakes that we could not make up for that deficit anymore.”
Lubomir Vasina
Head coach of SKV USTI NAD LABEM
