Mladost ZAGREB leave no chance to Merkur MARIBOR

In the first men’s MEVZA League match after the Christmas break, Croatia’s reigning national champions Mladost ZAGREB celebrated a stunning 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-20) home victory over Merkur MARIBOR from Slovenia at the Bojan Stranic Sports Hall on Saturday evening.

Marino Marelic and Tomislav Mitrasinovic top scored for Mladost with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Aljosa Bogozalec hammered 17 points for the away team. As a result, the hosts improved their win-loss record to 5-5 and moved up to the third place in the current standing on 15 points, while Merkur had to cope with a hard setback in their battle for a Final Four spot.

PHOTO © HAOK Mladost ZAGREB

“My players delivered a really strong match today. I am perfectly satisfied with my team’s performance”, Mladost’s head coach Toni Kovacevic said. Merkur’s setter Uros Planinsic explained: “We could not count on a full roster, because our head coach and some players are with the national team. Congratulations to Mladost!”

On Monday night, Merkur will welcome Final Four tournament hosts Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL from Austria. The women’s competition is going to continue on January 11 with the Slovenian derby featuring GEN-I Volley NOVA GORICA and current MEVZA League leaders Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR.

Men’s MEVZA League

04.01.: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-20)
06.01., 20:00: OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) vs. Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT)
09.01., 20:00: OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) vs. SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT)

Women’s MEVZA League

11.01., 19:00: GEN-I Volley NOVA GORICA (SLO) vs. Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO)
12.01., 19:00: UOK Banjaluka Volley BANJA LUKA (BIH) vs. Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO)
13.01., 18:00: Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO) vs. ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRCKO (BIH)
15.01., 16:30: ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRCKO (BIH) vs. HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO)

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