It appeared that Croatia is going to dominate in the women’s MEVZA Championship in Dunaújváros, Hungary, but the morning match between the tournament favorites and Slovenia complicated the final ranking. Croatia ended up losing 3:0 against Slovenia, who delivered a great performance. Highly efficient Neli Gorsek was followed by other teammates. The match statistic recorded a team hitting percentage of 45%, which is a great result in women’s volleyball.Furthermore, Slovenia pressured Croatian women with strong service, having scored in total as many as 14 direct service points.
After a successful performance, Slovenian women felt the tournament win was within reach. Even though they won with the maximum result and herewith clinched the first place overall with five victories, the match against Slovakia was anything but easy. Especially in the second set when Slovakia went ahead 21:19, but resilient Slovenia managed a turnaround. Slovenian team led the third set from start to finish, however never for more than three points at a time. Slovenia was once again more aggressive with the serve, and as a result Slovakia also had 12 reception errors.
“We are very pleased with the seen in the tournament, especially with our players approach and will to play. It is a bit unfortunate we did not have the complete national team, but on the other hand, some other players now got an opportunity as well. Of course, there are still reserves in our game, both technically and tactically, which we want to improve before the upcoming qualifications, “said Slovenian national team coach Jaros Stekl.
The second place went to Croatia, with also five victories, however fewer won sets than Slovenia. In third place is Czech Republic with four wins. Hungary in fourth place ultimately also had four wins just as Czech Republic in third, however with a weaker set ratio and after all, last morning the Czech team defeated Hungary 3:0 in the third-place duel, while Hungary also lost a set to Israel in the afternoon match. Slovakia also earned their fifth place on the last day in a direct match against Israel. This was their second win, which meant they move ahead of Israel, who recorded one win. Austria finished at the bottom of the standings, nevertheless showed in individual matches that they can be completely competitive with other teams in this MEVZA Championship.
Photo Credit: Volleyball Federation of Slovenia
