On Saturday evening, Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) claimed their fourth victory this MEVZA League season after the ‘Nordmänner’ emerged victorious from their clash with UVC Holding GRAZ (AUT), celebrating a hard-fought 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-18, 15-8) away win. While the competition rookies and bottom of the table secured their very first point in the MEVZA League, Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL cemented their fifth place in the current standing on 11 points, resulting from four wins and six losses.
“Today, our opponents played with a lot of enthusiasm and energy, but after making some tactical switches and adjustments, we were able to take control. Turning the game around was mentally very important for us,” URW’s head coach Zdenek Smejkal explained. UVC Holding GRAZ opposite Mark Kremer said: “We played very well during the first two sets. I think, we surprised our opponents a little bit today. However, after they adjusted to our game plan, we could not quite keep up with them. Nevertheless, we secured the first point for the standing.”
PHOTO © Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL
Marek Sulc, Maciej Borris and Koendert Daan Streutker split the best scorer`s honours for the ‘Nordmänner’ with 17 points each. Mark Kremer and Johannes Kratz top scored for UVC Holding GRAZ with 23 and 10 points, respectively. The away team was much better at blocking (18 vs 5 points) and in attack (50% vs 43%).
Already in December, the MEVZA Executive Committee announced that URW would be hosting the Final Four tournament for the second consecutive year. Therefore, the 2020-2021 edition of the MEVZA League will be reaching its climax on February 27 and 28 at the Zwettl sports hall. As organisers, the ‘Nordmänner’ are already qualified for the season’s grand finale.
The MEVZA League will continue on Wednesday, when HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) will be locking horns with OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO)!
MEVZA League main round
23.01.: UVC Holding GRAZ (AUT) vs. Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) 2-3 (25-23, 25-22, 17-25, 18-25, 8-15)
27.01., 19:00: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO)
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