Merkur MARIBOR and ACH VOLLEY Ljubljana cruised to convincing away wins

In the third round of the Men’s MEVZA League, current table leaders OK Merkur MARIBOR celebrated a 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-12) victory at VKP BRATISLAVA on Wednesday to extend their winning streak even further. Therefore, Slovenia’s national champions increased their tally to nine points from a 3-0 win-loss record. MARIBOR’s Ahmed Ikhbayri and Ziga Donik split the best scorer’s honours with 21 points each, while Michal Trubac registered 18 for the hosts.

Ziga Donik, top scorer OK Merkur MARIBOR: “It was a tough match, but we started pretty good and we delivered a strong performance in defence and attack. We lost our advantage only in the third set. There are a few things that we can do better in the next match, but we are happy to take three points for the standing.”

Matus Kalny, head coach VKP BRATISLAVA: “It’s a pity that after three good sets we somehow fell apart at the beginning of the fourth set. Apart from that, it was a good performance that makes us confident for the challenges that lie ahead.”

In the second men’s match scheduled for Wednesday evening, hosts Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL stood no chance against defending champions ACH Volley LJUBLJANA. The ‘Orange Dragons’ needed just 69 minutes to claim a compelling 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-14) win at the Stadthalle Zwettl. As a result, ACH Volley LJUBLJANA moved up to second place in the current table on six points from two matches. URW’s Marek Sulc scored 12 points, while Nikola Gjorgiev recorded 16 points for the away team.

Koendert Daan Streutker, opposite Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL: “We knew that ACH Volley is a very strong team. We could only keep up in the second set, but we are looking ahead.”

In the women’s competition Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR cruised to a clean sweep (25-18, 25-23, 25-16) of VB NÖ SOKOL/POST. The win takes the hosts up to the fourth spot in the current standing with three points from two matches. The Austrians, on the other hand, were not able to collect a single point so far. The best performance came from MARIBOR’s Taja Gradisnik Klanjscek, who managed to put 16 points to her name. Lucia Miksikova top scored for the away side with 12 points.

Live streaming of all matches is available for fans to follow the competition as closely as possible.

Men’s MEVZA League

13.10.: VKP BRATISLAVA (SVK) vs. OK MERKUR MARIBOR (SLO) 1-3 (20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 12-25)
13.10.: Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) vs. ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) 0-3 (13-25, 21-25, 14-25)
16.10., 19:00: SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT) vs. Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT)

Match schedule 2021/2022 MEVZA League Men