Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor will host this weekend the second round robin tournament in Pool A of the women’s CEV European Silver League. With three wins under their belt after the first tournament held in Luxembourg last week, the hosts are aiming for first place when the pool stage of the competition ends later this weekend.
Team Slovenia celebrate one of three victories they claimed last week in Luxembourg
“We are very well prepared to meet our opponents in Maribor. Our goal is to win all three matches, aiming to enter the Final Four tournament from the best position. But first, we need to focus on every single match and to perform on the highest level possible.”
Gregor Rozman
Head coach of Team Slovenia
The young Slovenian team, with an average age of only 21 years, prevailed in the first tournament, claiming three straight wins. Even though, as organisers, Slovenia are already qualified for the Final Four tournament, the home players are eager to play and to prove themselves in front of their fans, who are finally able to return to the stands since the Slovenian government has lifted some of the toughest restrictions in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, Austria and Luxembourg will open the tournament at Sports hall Ljudski vrt – Lukna in Maribor, followed by the clash between Slovenia and Israel. Austria, ranked second in Pool A, swept Luxembourg away in their last encounter with a 3-0 win, the same as they did with Israel. However, the Israelis had the upper hand over Luxembourg without dropping a single set too, which makes the ‘Red Lionesses’ from Luxembourg the underdogs of the group.
Team Slovenia restart their journey in the competition with a record of three wins from as many matches
“I am confident that we can win all three matches in Maribor and confirm first place in our group. We are also looking forward to seeing our fans in the stands after so many months. However, this is only the first part of our mission. We have been working very hard during the last few weeks, the atmosphere in the team is great and I really hope that we will be able to keep the momentum going until the Final Four tournament.”
Eva Zatkovic
Player of Team Slovenia
