VB NÖ Sokol/Post secure Austrian women’s national league title in emphatic style
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VB NÖ Sokol/Post impressively secured their 47th national championship title on Wednesday evening. The team from Lower Austria comfortably claimed the third final match of the Austrian Volleyball League (AVL) Women against UVC Holding GRAZ in three sets (25-11, 25-17, 25-14). Following their triumph in the Austrian national cup back in February, Sokol/Post finish the season as double domestic champions.
Sina Fuchs“We really wanted to celebrate the title at home. It was a very dominant performance in a packed arena and, for me, a fantastic end to my career. I cannot imagine anything better than finishing with a double victory. We were a great team this season. What we have achieved makes me more than proud.”
Outside hitter VB NÖ Sokol/Post
In front of a fantastic crowd in a packed Posthalle, coach Zuzana Pecha-Tlstovicova’s team left no chance to their opponents. UVC Holding GRAZ had to compete without key players Verena Janka and Maya Jensterle – and it was obvious from the start that their absence would have a major impact. Sokol/Post dominated the first set in every aspect of the game; although the visitors were able to keep up a bit better in the second, they again failed to have the upper hand. In the third set, the hosts pulled away early and sealed the victory after just 68 minutes: Tijana Knezevic converted the first match point with a block.
Sokol/Post is thus Austrian national champion for the first time since 2017. The Lower Austrian team lost only two matches all season – and those were in the first half of the AVL regular season in Graz and Innsbruck. The top scorers were Aida Mehic (15), Srna Vardjan (11), and Tijana Knezevic (10) for the newly crowned champions, and Viktoria Goger (7), Ursula Ehrhart, and Sara Neiss (6 each) for UVC Holding GRAZ. The statistics speak for themselves: attack points 43 to 22 for the winners, blocks 9 to 4, and aces 7 to 0.
Vardjan, previously known under her maiden name Marković, received the award for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final series. After stints in Germany, Italy, and Poland, as well as a maternity leave, she is now back on the AVL stage.
Zuzana Pecha-Tlstovicova“I am incredibly happy about the double. It is just great to work with this team. We had a lot of new players who have grown together more and more.”
Head coach VB NÖ Sokol/Post
UVC Holding GRAZ diagonal hitter Ursula Ehrhart: “Today’s game was by far our worst. I am sorry for the team that we finished the season with such a performance. We will need a few days to digest this. We did not get through the entire series offensively as we had hoped; we were often blocked. Overall, though, we had a good season.”