Swietelsky BÉKÉSCSABA win third MEVZA League title

In the final of the women’s MEVZA League organised by Calcit Volley, Swietelsky BÉKÉSCSABA of Hungary defeated Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-16) in the Kamnik Sports Hall. This is the third MEVZA League title for the Hungarians, while the Maribor players stay with four to their names.

The Nova KBM Branik players defeated Calcit Volley for the second time in a row in Velenje last Saturday to win the Slovenian Cup title for the 19th time in their history, and before that, it was in Kamnik where they prevented the reigning Slovenian national champions from playing in the final of the MEVZA League. Their opponent was Swietelsky, which they beat 3-0 at home in the regular season of the MEVZA League, but the Hungarians were already guaranteed a place in the semi-finals of the play-offs before that match, where they eliminated Mladost ZAGREB.

The Hungarian team entered the final with more energy, leading 7-4 with an ace by Marta Drpa and 10-5 after another ace by Ralitsa Vasileva. The Maribor players did not play well on offense, nor was their reception at its highest level, and when Drpa scored another ace, the Slovenes were already eight points behind (12-20). The set was thus decided, with Fanni Bagyinka confirming Békéscsaba’s victory.

In the second set, Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR improved their reception game, but still lacked efficiency in attack. Nevertheless, after an error by the Hungarian women in the middle of the set, they took a 14-11 lead. After that, the Slovenian Cup winners again had a period of poorer play, which their opponents took advantage of, and with another ace, this time by Bagyinka, they stormed to a 17-15 lead. But in the end of the set, Bruno Najdič’s team came back into the game, first with an ace by Tali Lekše to tie the score at 21-21, and Lorena Lorber Fijok led her team to a 22-21 advantage. After a mistake by the Hungarian team, the Slovenes got two balls to tie the match, but Drpa tied the score and finally converted a second set ball to give Swietelsky a 2-0 lead in the game.

In the third set, MARIBOR repeated the mistakes of the first set. In addition to poor reception, they were not very effective in attack. Until the seventh point, they kept up with the Hungarian side, who broke away by five points (13-8) after a block by Drpa, and did not let the big lead slip out of their hands. Two consecutive points by Dorottya Bodnar, who was also named player of the match, brought them to a seven-point lead, and Vasileva ended the match.

Bruno Najdič, coach of Nova KBM Branik: “I wanted and hoped that we would play at a higher level, but we did not come into the game focused and aggressive enough, and we made too many mistakes of our own. If we had won the second set, in which we raised our level of play a bit, maybe the remainder of the game would have been different, but in the third set there was no real resistance anymore. I have the feeling that my players did not believe enough that they could win this match and that after winning the Slovenian Cup title, we were not psychologically ready for this final. I am sorry that we did not play better, for the sake of our fans, but I hope that we will play better again at the end of the national championship.”