Competition rookies TJ Spartak MYJAVA of Slovakia celebrated their first MEVZA League win on Sunday evening. The team of head coach Martin Pipa cruised to a clean sweep (25-17, 25-19, 25-11) of Austria’s reigning national champions UVC Holding GRAZ on home soil.
Thus, TJ Spartak MYJAVA moved up to fifth place in the current standing on three points, while bottom-of-the-table UVC Holding GRAZ have not been able to secure a victory in the four matches they have contested so far.
Two of MYJAVA’s players scored more than 10 points. The best performance came from Patrik Pokopec who managed to put 13 to his name, while teammate Erik Watzka kept close with 11 points. Lorenz Koraimann scored eight times for the away side in their losing effort.
Martin Pipa, head coach TJ Spartak MYJAVA: „We pushed the opponent with our serve and also our defense was quite good. In the third set UVC Graz had nothing more to offer and we were able to finish the match with confidence. Congratulations to my players!“
Robert Koch, head coach UVC Holding GRAZ: „Today our reception was very poor, so it was hard to built the side-out. Of course Myjava served really well, but our opponents were also in a much better condition physically. Our weak points were pointed out to us by a very strong team. We have to increase physically and also technically.“
Already on Saturday night, defending champions ACH Volley LJUBLJANA celebrated a 21-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-17 away win at OK Merkur MARIBOR to claim the top spot in the current standing. Both Slovenian sides are tied on 15 points – ACH Volley with a 5-0 win-loss record, while the reigning national champions have won five of their six matches.
The men’s MEVZA League is going to continue next Saturday with three match-ups. Already on Wednesday, the women’s competition will be back in action after a break of two weeks. While Vasas Óbuda BUDAPEST (HUN) will be hosting Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO), the current competition leaders OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) will be facing bottom of the table OK Marina KAŠTELA (CRO).
Live streaming of all matches is available for fans to follow the competition as closely as possible.
Men’s MEVZA League
31.10.: TJ Spartak MYJAVA (SVK) vs. UVC Holding GRAZ (AUT) 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-11)
06.11., 17:00: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO)
06.11., 19:00: SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT) vs. TJ Spartak MYJAVA (SVK)
06.11., 20:00: UVC Holding GRAZ (AUT) vs. VKP BRATISLAVA (SVK)
Women’s MEVZA League
03.11., 19:00: Vasas Óbuda BUDAPEST (HUN) vs. Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO)
03.11., 20:00: OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) vs. OK Marina KASTELA (CRO)
06.11., 19:30: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO)
