On Saturday night, last season’s bronze-medallists Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL lost their first MEVZA League match after an about seven months break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Nordmänner” suffered a defeat in straight sets (19-25, 23-25, 23-25) at the hands of OK Merkur Maribor on home soil.
On the other hand, the Slovenians claimed their first win in their third MEVZA League game this season. As a result, they moved up to second place in the current standing on four points. “Today, our own mistakes in decisive situations made the difference”, WALDVIERTEL’s head coach Zdenek Smejkal explained.
The away side was clearly better in attack (59% vs 46%) and own mistakes (16 vs 23), WALDVIERTEL scored four aces more than their opponents (5 vs 1) did and were slightly better at blocking (6 vs 5). MARIBOR’s Rok Mozic was the player of the match after an impressive performance that saw him finishing on 22 points. Radim Sulc topped the charts for the home side by recording 16 points.
There are no more fixtures scheduled for this weekend. The MEVZA League is going to resume next Wednesday, when WALDVIERTEL will be playing at ten-time competition winners and table leaders ACH Volley.
The 2021 MEVZA League features seven men’s elite teams representing three countries. Alongside ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO), OK Merkur MARIBOR (SLO), Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO) and UVC Holding GRAZ (AUT), SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT), Union Raiffeisen WALDVIERTEL (AUT) and HAOK Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) are competing in a double round robin format. After completion of the main round, the MEVZA League will be reaching its climax with the Final Four tournament scheduled for the last weekend of February.
MEVZA League
10.10.: Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel (AUT) vs. OK Merkur Maribor (SLO) 0:3 (19:25, 23:25, 23:25)
14.10., 17:00: OK ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) vs. Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel (AUT)
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