MEVZA League: Teams continue to hone their skills at preseason tournaments

While the CEV EuroVolley Men 2019 is entering its decisive stage, the MEVZA League participants are continuing their preparations for the upcoming season at a number of friendly tournaments.

This past weekend, 2019 MEVZA League men’s champions ACH Volley Ljubljana, Calcit Volley Kamnik and Mladost Zagreb attended the Memorijal Velikana 2019 held in Novi Sad, Serbia. Hosts OK Vojvodina topped the table after increasing their points to seven, beating Slovenia’s dominant team in recent years – ACH Volley – in a tight final encounter 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 15-9). The defending MEVZA League champions finished the competition in second place with a 2-1 win-loss record, in front of Calcit Volley (1-2) and Mladost (0-3).

The women’s team of UOK Banjaluka Voley from Bosnia and Herzegovina is going to make its debut in the 2019-2020 MEVZA League. This past weekend, the 2019 edition of the annual Banjaluka Trophy took place at Borik sports hall. The hosts put their hands on the trophy after defeating Volley club Fratte from Italy and ZOK Osijek of Croatia. Milica Sorak of the home side received the MVP award for the tournament, while her teammate Jovana Kovacevic emerged as the best blocker.

There are already two more preseason tournaments scheduled for the coming weekend. MEVZA League contestants OK MARIBOR host the 31. Skerbinjekov Memorial. Alongside the hosts, OK Panvita Pomgrad, OK Hoce (both Slovenia) and VBC TLZ Weiz (Austria) will be taking part in the tournament. Slovenia’s GEN-I Volley Nova Gorica, on the other hand, look forward to the fourth edition of their Gen-I Cup.

The forthcoming MEVZA League will feature eight men’s and seven women’s elite teams representing four countries. The men’s kick-off will be taking place on October 4-7 while the women’s season opener is due to follow a week later, October 11-13. The women’s and men’s sides initially compete in a double round robin format. After the main rounds, the MEVZA League reaches its climax with the Final Four tournaments in February and March (hosts will be announced in late October).

Memorijal Velikana 2019 (September 20 – 22)

OK Vojvodina Novi Sad (SRB) vs. ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 15-9)
Calcit Volley Kamnik (SLO) vs. HAOK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) 3-2 (25-19, 25-16, 16-25, 23-25, 15-12)
HAOK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) vs. ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) 2-3 (25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 9-15)
OK Vojvodina Novi Sad (SRB) vs. Calcit Volley Kamnik (SLO) 3-2 (25-15, 16-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-7)
OK Vojvodina Novi Sad (SRB) vs. HAOK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) 3-1 (23-25, 32-30, 25-17, 25-21)
ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) vs. Calcit Volley Kamnik (SLO) 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 24-26, 25-22, 15-12)

1 OK Vojvodina Novi Sad (SRB)
2 ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO/MEVZA)
3 Calcit Volley Kamnik (SLO/MEVZA)
4 HAOK Mladost Zagreb (CRO/MEVZA)

Banjaluka Trophy 2019 (September 20 – 22)

UOK BL Volley (BIH/MEVZA) vs. Volley club Fratte (ITA) 2:1 (23:25, 25:20, 25:15)
ZOK Osijek (CRO) vs. SIP Sempeter (SLO) 2:1 (25:11, 18:25, 25:22)
Volley club Fratte (ITA) vs. ZOK Osijek (CRO) 3:0 (25:23, 25:13, 25:15)
UOK BL Volley (BIH/MEVZA) vs. SIP Sempeter (SLO) 1:2 (23:25, 25:19, 16:25)
SIP Sempeter (SLO) vs. Alta Fratte (ITA) 2:1 (19:25, 25:20, 26:24)
UOK BL Volley (BIH/MEVZA) vs. ZOK Osijek (CRO) 3:0 (26:24, 25:20, 25:13)

1 UOK BL Volley (BIH/MEVZA)
2 SIP Sempeter (SLO)
3 Alta Fratte (ITA)
4 ZOK Osijek (CRO)

Middle European League Women 2019-20

Teams

UOK BANJALUKA Volley (BIH)
ZOK Bimal Jedinstvo BRCKO (BIH)
HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO)
OK KAŠTELA (CRO)
Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO)
GEN-I Volley (SLO)
Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO)

Schedule

12.10., 17:00: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. HOK KASTELA (CRO)
12.10., 18:00: Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO) vs. Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO)
12.10., 19:00: ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRCKO (BIH) vs. UOK Banjaluka Volley BANJA LUKA (BIH)

Middle European League Men 2019-20

Teams

SK Posojilnica AICH/DOB (AUT)
Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT)
OK Mladost BRCKO (BIH)
HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO)
OK Mladost Ribola KAŠTELA (CRO)
ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO)
Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO)
OK MARIBOR (SLO)

Schedule

05.10., 18:00: HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) vs. OK Mladost Ribola KASTELA (CRO)
05.10., 18:00: ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) vs. Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO)
05.10., 19:00: SK Posojilnica AICH/DOB (AUT) vs. Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT)

PHOTO © CEV

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