Women’s regular season is over, Final Four just a week away

This women’s MEVZA League regular season finished with three fixtures on Saturday night. Second-placed ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRCKO (BIH) needed just 65 minutes to celebrate a clean sweep (25-14, 25-20, 25-19) against bottom of the table OK KASTELA (CRO), while Mladost ZAGREB ended their campaign with a commanding 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19) home win over Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO). Final Four tournament hosts GEN-I Volley NOVA GORICA (SLO), on the other hand, suffered a 2-3 (23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 13-15) home loss at the hands of UOK Banjaluka Volley BANJA LUKA (BIH).

Alongside main round winners Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO) and hosts GEN-I Volley, Calcit Volley as well as ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo will contest this season’s women’s MEVZA League climax in Nova Gorica this coming weekend.

PHOTO © Mladost ZAGREB

The men’s main round resumed with the top match between defending champions ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) and last season’s runners-up SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT). The Slovenian CEV Champions League participants claimed a hard-fought 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23) win on Saturday evening and extended their winning streak to seven matches in a row. While ACH Volley have already secured the top place in the main round one week ago, Austria’s dominant team in recent years stands just a slight chance to qualify for the Final Four tournament held in Zwettl on March 4 and 5. The men’s regular season will end on February 22.

Quotes from this Saturday’s matches

Mladost ZAGREB head coach Sasa Ivanisevic: “This match against Final Four participants Calcit Volley was a good preparation for our clash with Fatum NYIREGYHAZA in the CEV Cup eighth-finals in Zagreb on Wednesday!”

Calcit Volley KAMNIK head coach Gregor Rozman: “Of course I am not satisfied with the performance my team showed today. I expect my players to be much more serious at the Final Four tournament next weekend.”

Calcit Volley KAMNIK middle-blocker Katja Mihevc: “No, this was really not a good day for our team. I hope that we will do much better at the Finals.”

ACH Volley Ljubljana head coach Matija Plesko: “We have not been practising in the Stozice hall for a long time. Therefore, we had to get used to the dimensions of this hall again. At the end, I am for sure happy with the result but not so much with the way we played. On the other hand, it is true, that we had to cope with difficult circumstances these days. We returned from the Champions League clash with Kuzbass KEMEROVO in Russia only yesterday late afternoon, because of an airplane breakdown.”

Women’s MEVZA League

01.02.: GEN-I Volley NOVA GORICA (SLO) vs. UOK Banjaluka Volley BANJA LUKA (BIH) 2-3 (23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 13-15)
01.02.: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO) 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
01.02.: HOK KASTELA (CRO) vs. ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRCKO (BIH) 0-3 (14-25, 20-25, 19-25)

Final Four participants: Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO), ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRCKO (BIH), Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO) and hosts GEN-I Volley NOVA GORICA (SLO)

Men’s MEVZA League

01.02.: ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) vs. SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT) 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23)
08.02., 18:00: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO)
08.02., 19:00: Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) vs. OK Mladost Ribola KASTELA (CRO)

Final Four participants: ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO), hosts Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT); two spots remaining

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