ACH Volley LJUBLJANA claimed their 11th MEVZA League crown on Sunday night. The defending champions from Slovenia celebrated a hard-fought 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 29-27, 25-18) win over their national rivals OK Merkur MARIBOR in the gold medal match at the Final Four tournament held at the Zwettl sports hall. The participants in this year’s CEV Champions League pool stage went as the favourites into the highly anticipated clash with the Final Four rookies, but the underdogs were able to pose a real threat to the ‘Orange Dragons’ at least over three sets.
ACH Volley’s Bozidar Vucicevic topped the chart of the best scorers on 19 points ahead of his teammate Matej Kök and MARIBOR’s Rok Mozic, who scored 17 apiece. The match stats: attack 58% vs 46%, aces 7 vs 2, winning blocks 10 vs 9, reception 76% vs 47% and opponent errors 25 vs 31.
Matija Plesko, head coach of ACH Volley LJUBLJANA: “Maribor is always a tough opponent but my team showed great fighting spirit today. They had cool heads and hot hearts, which is the perfect combination.”
Matej Kök, MVP ACH Volley LJUBLJANA: “It was a really good final, featuring the best teams of the season. We kept getting better and better and so we deserved to win. I personally have enjoyed playing here in Zwettl again. I like this venue a lot, even though we have missed the fans!”
Sebastijan Skorc, head coach of OK Merkur MARIBOR: “Congratulations to ACH Volley. We started perfectly, but after Kök came on the court, they got better and better. Despite that, we had our chances, but did not take them. Yesterday’s match was very tough, so we did not have enough energy at the end.”
Rok Mozic, MVP OK Merkur MARIBOR: “It is nice that we made it to the final. On the other hand, we came here to win the tournament, so we are a little bit sad. We had good options, were in the lead, but in the end, it was not enough. Congratulations to ACH Volley.”
Calcit KAMNIK secure bronze medal
After losing against their national rivals OK Merkur MARIBOR in a thrilling semi-final, OK Calcit KAMNIK claimed the bronze medal match, defeating hosts Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19) earlier in the evening. Therefore, Gregor Jeroncic’s squad took their chance to secure their fifth MEVZA League podium. Last season, OK Calcit KAMNIK had suffered a four-set loss at the hands of URW in the bronze medal match.
Calcit KAMNIK’s Mitja Gasparini was the player of the match after delivering an impressive performance that saw him finishing on a total of 23 points, including three winning blocks and two aces, while his teammate Jan Klobucar registered 16. Marek Sulc and Koendert Daan Streutker top scored for the hosts with 18 and 17 points, respectively. The match stats: attack 43% vs 42%, aces 8 vs 2, winning blocks 11 vs 11, reception 55% vs 51% and opponent errors 33 vs 21.
Koendert Daan Streutker, MVP Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel: „We had a great start and we still played pretty good after the injury of our setter Pavel Bartos in the second set, but it was not enough today.”
Gregor Jeroncic, head coach OK Calcit KAMNIK: “It was a tough match, because we lost a lot of energy in yesterday’s semi-final. When the setter of URW dropped out due to injury, it became easier for us. Hopefully it is not too bad. It was very important to secure that win. It does not matter how we played.”
Jan Klobucar, MVP OK Calcit KAMNIK: “We knew, that it would be a tough match after yesterday´s loss and because of the great motivation of the home team as well. They did not give us anything. After the injury of their setter, it was amazing to see how many of them can actually set. I am very happy, that we made the bronze medal.”
Volleyball fans were able to follow all matches of the Final Four tournament through a six-camera live streaming and commentary available in English as well as in German!
MEVZA League, Final Four tournament (Zwettl sports hall)
27.02.: OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) vs. Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) 3-2 (25-22, 28-26, 15-25, 22-25, 15-13)
27.02.: ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) vs. Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) 3-0 (25-17, 25-16 25-13)
28.02.: Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) vs. Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19)
28.02.: ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) vs. OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 29-27, 25-18)
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