The 2020-2021 edition of the MEVZA League continued with two matchups played on Wednesday evening. Defending champions ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) secured a 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21) away win at Final Four tournament hosts Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT). Therefore, the second-placed ‘Orange Dragons’ increased their points to 21 on a 7-2 win-loss record and they closed the gap to table leaders OK Merkur MARIBOR to two points only. The ‘Nordmänner’, on the other hand, are still sitting in fifth place, registering three wins and six losses in the process.
“Congratulations to our opponents! Of course, I am not satisfied with the result, but I have to say that my team delivered a good performance today. Anyway, honestly ACH Volley is currently out of our reach,” URW head coach Zdenek Smejkal said, while ACH Volley’s Matija Plesko explained: “In the MEVZA League, it is always difficult to play abroad. Thus, we are happy that we were able to secure another three points for the standing, but it certainly was not one of our best matches today. However, starting 2021 with a win is very positive.”
PHOTO © Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL
Jan Pokersnik and Mitar Tzourits split the best scorer’s honours for ACH Volley with 20 points each, while Marek Sulc and Maciej Borris top scored for URW with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The CEV Champions League participants were much better in attack (44% vs 54%) and at blocking (12 vs 4). Both sides made 23 mistakes from the service line, while they hit just one ace each.
Calcit Volley move up to third place
OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) came back from one set down to emerge victorious by 3-1 (15-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-14) in their matchup against bottom-of-the-table UVC Holding GRAZ (AUT). As a result, the Slovenian side moved up to third place in the current standing on 13 points, leapfrogging SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT), while the competition rookies have not been able to collect a single point from the eight matches they have contested so far.
“We made a good start but after the first set Calcit Volley became better and better. We are still chasing the first points in the MEVZA League, but I hope that we will secure our very first win soon. We are on the right track”, UVC Holding Graz sports director Frederick Laure said.
Calcit Volley’s Jan Klobucar was the player of the match after delivering an impressive performance that saw him finishing on 20 points. His teammate Mitja Gasparini managed to put 13 to his name, while Tiago Pereira and Clemens Unterberger were the best scorers for the hosts with 11 and 9 points, respectively. The match stats underline the superiority of the away team: attack 62% vs 50%, blocks 8 vs 4, aces 4 vs 1 and opponent errors 28 vs 30.
MEVZA League main round
13.01.: UVC Holding GRAZ (AUT) vs OK Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) 1-3 (25-15, 20-25, 15-25, 14-25)
13.01.: Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) vs ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) 1-3 (19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 21-25)
results, match stats, schedule and standing
SPORTLIVE
