OK Zadar and OK Split triumph at Croatia’s young cadet national championships

Zadar, Croatia. The 2020 edition of the Croatian Volleyball Championship in the pre-youth categories took place this past weekend in Zadar across as many as seven courts and three sports halls – Višnjik 1, Višnjik 2 and Mocire. OK Split claimed the women’s title after beating HAOK Mladost 2-0 (25-14, 25-11), while the home favourites of OK Zadar triumphed in the men’s competition after a hard-fought 2-1 victory (20-25, 25-17, 15-7) over Mladost. 

The championship in Zadar involved as many as 23 clubs in the women’s and nine in the men’s competition, respectively, thus accounting for 450 players participating in the event, all complying with very strict epidemiological measures in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

The players of OK Split delivered an impressive performance in Zadar, losing only one set throughout the whole tournament in their semi-final match against OK Olimpik. OK Split coach Marina Maleš did not hide her satisfaction with the victory and the performance of her team: “We came to the tournament with great expectations and rightly so because we have several national team members in the team. We have been preparing for this moment for a year, considering that we lost clumsily and unhappily in last year’s final. It is always a challenge to play against the Mladost team, but we believed in our game. From the beginning to the end, we played a very good and quality tournament, which ultimately produced a good result. We are happy to emerge as the ones at the top of the final standing.” 

The hosts of OK Zadar were the winners of the men’s competition 

The men’s final resulted in a very close fight eventually claimed by the home team of Zadar, coached by Antonio Sura?: “This is pure proof that sport is sometimes not fair and that you never know what to expect. Last year I had an organised team that knew what to do. We lost in the final to IOC Mursa 1-2. This year I adapted the system of the game to the team I had with Luka Buljat, whom I would single out as a captain who was the real leader both on and off the court. In the end, however, it was the struggle and the desire to win that set us apart from the other teams competing here.”

The third place in the women’s and men’s competition went to OK Olimpik and MOK Mursa – Osijek, respectively. 

Individual awards 

Women 
Best Blocker: Aurora Papac (HAOK Mladost)
Best Setter: Kate Liji? (OK Split)
Best Spiker: Tonka Bošnjak (HAOK Mladost)
Best Libero: Tija Kov?o (OK Split)
Best Receiver: Petra Zec (OK Olimpik)
MVP: Ana Burilovi? (OK Split)

Men 
Best Blocker: Dino Šoš (MOK Mursa-Osijek)
Best Setter: Ivan Mustapi? (OK Ribola Kaštela)
Best Spiker: Tin Devald (HAOK Mladost)
Best Libero: Tomislav Mami? (HAOK Mladost)
Best Receiver: Luka Neki? (OK Zadar)
MVP: Luka Buljat (OK Zadar)

Sources:
CEV – European Volleyball
HOS – Croatian Volleyball Federation