Mevza League: final is OK Merkur Maribor – ACH volley Ljubljana!

OK Merkur Maribor (SLO) will face defending champions ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) in the gold medal match of the Mevza League on Sunday night.
In a very thrilling opening match, the team from Maribor needed five sets (25:22, 28:26, 15:25, 22:25, 15:13) to surpass their national rivals. Ahmed Ikhbayri, named MVP of the match, put down 27 points for the winning side, while Kamnik’s Jan Klobucar kept very close with 26.

Sebastian Skorc, head coach OK Merkur Maribor: “We did not do anything wrong in the third and fourth set. They just delivered a very strong performance on serve. In the fifth set we were the lucky ones. Congratulations to my team. Now we have to rest und tomorrow we will play the grand finale.”

Ahmed Ikhbaryri, MVP OK Merkur Maribor: “It was a crazy match. Suddenly Kamnik started serving really well with so much pressure. In the end we fought for every ball, tried to push each other and finally we did it.”

Gregor Jeroncic, head coach OK Calcit Kamnik: “We did not serve well in the first two sets. Besides that, we were not aggressive enough. In the third set, we started to serve better and, on the other hand, we were able to improve significantly in defense. In the fifth set we made some wrong decisions and also a lot mistakes!”

On the other semifinal, ACH Volley Ljubljana too stark for Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel: the defending champions destroyed the final four hosts in straight sets. The ten-time MEVZA League winners and participants in the CEV Champions League pool stage went as the clear favourites into the clash with last year’s bronze-medallists, and the match lasted only 66 minutes (25:17, 25:16 25:13). Bozidar Vucicevic was the top scorer of the match with 18 points (and was named MVP), while any player among the hosts reached a double digit, as Koendert Daan Streutker was the top scorer for Waldviertel with 8 points.

Matija Plesko, head coach ACH Volley Ljubljana: “We have performed on our top level today. Therefore, this result came about. Many thanks to Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel for organising this tournament. The Zwettl sports hall looks great, so we can play good volleyball.”

Zdenek Smejkal, head coach Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel: “We did not have any chance today. ACH Volley was better in every way. They especially put a lot of pressure on us with the serve. Congratulations to ACH Volley on reaching the final. We now have to focus on Calcit Kamnik!”

The bronze medal match is scheduled on Sunday at 5 p.m., while the 2020-2021 edition of the Mevza League grand finale starting at 8 p.m.

| MEVZA LEAGUE 2020/21 | FINAL FOUR
| Semifinals | February 27

• Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) – OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) 2-3 (22:25, 26:28, 25:15, 25:22, 13:15)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
Top Scorers: Klobucar 26, Gasparini 20, Hebda 12, Stalekar 10; Ikhbayri 28, Mozic 14, Sket 13, Uremovic 8.

• ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) – Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) 3-0 (25:17, 25:16, 25:13)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
Top Scorers: Vucicevic 18, Toukhteh 13, Pokersnik 11, Okroglic 7; Streutker 8, Vaiopoulos 4, Sulc 4.

| February 28
BRONZE MEDAL MATCH |
• Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) – Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) 1-3 (25:23, 21:25, 17:25, 19:25)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

GOLD MEDAL MATCH |
• ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) – OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO) 3-1 (23:25, 25:18, 29:27, 25:18)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

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| TEAMS:

1| ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) 👇🏼

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2| Ok Merkur Maribor (Slovenia)👇🏼

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3| Calcit Volley Kamnik (Slovenia)👇🏼

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5 (hosts) | Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) 👇🏼

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Source: MEVZA.ORG | all photos: volleytimes