Mladost once again better than Janta Volej

On Wednesday night, Mladost ZAGREB advanced to the 8th Finals of the women’s CEV Cup. Even in the return match, they did not face a difficult task. After defeating the Macedonian champions Janta Volej KISELA VODA 3-0 in Skopje a week ago in just under an hour, they finished the job with an identical result at the Volleyball Centre in Zagreb – 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-22) after 67 minutes of play.

The first two sets were once again a demonstration of power by Mladost, with the guests never taking the lead. Then, in the third set, after they had mathematically secured their place in the round of 16, a slightly more relaxed approach crept into their play. The visitors took advantage of that and edged ahead in the first part of the set, though never by more than two points. The last time they led was at 16-15, before Mladost refocused and, with a 4-0 run, jumped ahead to a more comfortable 19-16. The guests saw their chance to win at least one set, and the final moments were played in a deadlock at 21-21. But with three consecutive points on Pamella Owino’s serves, the Zagreb side closed out the set - one they had actually complicated for themselves.

“A clean 3–0 win, even though the last set we made things a bit complicated for us. Still, I gave a chance to those who have played less in the league. I am happy. I am satisfied with the performance because when we wanted to put on pressure, we did so and easily won the first and second sets. I am pleased for players like Lana Francetić, Leni Ivković, Marija Vrban, and Anamarija Čižmar, who usually get less playing time in the league but played today. The most important thing was to win the first two sets and confirm our progression to the next round, so we did that as quickly as possible,” said Mladost coach Riccardo Boieri after the match.

Mladost were also statistically dominant: blocks 13 vs four, aces seven vs two, attack points 36 vs 22, and it’s worth noting that they made 11 errors in the third set, while in the first two they made a total of 10. 

“Although today’s match ended with a negative result for us, we will approach it positively. It is an honour to play against such a big club and we are satisfied with our performance today. We put great pressure on Mladost in the third set. Compared to the first match, I think we were better prepared today. We were not at full strength due to the absence of our starting setter, but we gave everything we had. Congratulations to Mladost, and we continue working,” said the Macedonian captain, Tamara Tasevska.

Kenyan opposite Pamella Owino was the most effective player for Mladost with 18 points (including five blocks and two aces).

In the round of 16, Mladost will face the Polish team MOYA Radomka RADOM in January, who eliminated Czech side VK UP OLOMOUC with two 3-0 victories.