The opening of the first set was completely in the hands of Jihostroj. The players managed to create an incredible head-start of 16:8. Even though the Italian coach took the advantage of two time-outs, he didn’t manage to stop the Czech machine. Nevertheless, Trentino proved their qualities and pushed to erase the loss – they were able to reduce the gap to a 3-points lead. Despite the efforts however, it was Jihostroj rejoicing deservedly in the victory of the first set.

There was no harsh action from either of the teams at the beginning of the second set. It was thanks to the attack of Šotola and Zmrhal that Jihostroj started to dominate in the second half of the set. They managed to snatch a few-point headstart which they kept until the finale of the set. Trentino dramatized the last minutes as they brought down the Czech lead to two contact points. Jihostroj won the second set as well and Italians started to lose their chances for advancing among this year’s eight best teams.

The third set copied the opening one – but this time Trentino led the way. The team was always at least 1 point in the lead. The breaking point came with score 12:14 – Jihostroj started to lose contact with the Italians who started to increase the gap. The set ended off with substantial ten-points gap.

Trentino was in charge of the fourth set as well. The Italians managed to resist the pressure of Jihostroj in the finale of the set and gained three set points. Trentino won the second one extending the match – the overall winner will be decided in the fifth set. In the end it was the fancied Trentino which gained the decisive final set – 11:15. Jihostroj does not have to be ashamed in the least for their performance as they gained a surprising point.

After the defeat in Italian Trentino (3:0), Jihostroj strived to redeem in front of the home audience. The Czech players pushed to give the Italians a hard time in the retaliatory match and take at least one set from them. The completely sold-out sports hall in České Budějovice saw an interesting volleyball show which played out in a fantastic atmosphere. The Italians are the ones taking home a 2-point victory.

Simone Giannelli, setter of TRENTINO Itas: “I think that it was a difficult match because we knew that them playing here – they would play very good because they are home. But I am very happy for my team and for the outcome.”

Marek Zmrhal, spiker of VK Jihostroj: “It’s a shame that we lost. We started off really well, the first two sets were absolutely amazing, euphoric – awesome volleyball. Then we eased up a bit and started to make mistakes. Maybe we got a bit scared that we could actually beat Trentino 3:0. Anyway, then Trento started to play their game – without flaws, and on the contrary we made some more and this cost us the game.”