Montenegro make history by qualifying for #EuroVolleyU16W Final Round in emphatic style

The U16 women’s national team of Montenegro made history this weekend by securing participation in the Final Round of ‘their’ European Championship through the qualification rounds! Never before had a women’s team from the Balkan country achieved this feat. Moreover, Montenegro was the only team across all five qualifiers to remain undefeated without conceding a single set to their opponents. 

Under the leadership of head coach Petar Koković, Team Montenegro achieved a historic success! The players born in 2010 and even younger secured a spot to compete at the #EuroVolleyU16W Final Round by finishing first in Pool A without losing a single set. At the qualification tournament held in Maribor, the Montenegrin girls delivered a series of fantastic performances, culminating in a convincing 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) victory over the host nation, Slovenia. In the previous two days, Montenegro had defeated Slovakia and Romania with the same score. 
 
Right from the very start of the match, it was clear that Montenegro was on its way to victory – they opened the first set with a 6-0 run and confidently maintained the lead until the end, thereby taking a 1-0 advantage. In the second set, Slovenia tried to fight back and kept the score tied until midway (16-16), but Montenegro raised their tempo, quickly pulling away to 24-17 and sealing the set in their favour (25-19).
 
The third set saw complete domination from Montenegro. The Balkan team was unstoppable, leading 13-4, and the advantage just kept growing, reaching a maximum of 13 points (22-9), in the end resulting in another convincing set win (25-17) and a huge celebration for the historic qualification for the event scheduled for later this summer in Albania and Kosovo. 

Klara Đukić and Jana Mrdak were the most effective players in the match with Slovenia, scoring 13 and 12 points respectively. Elena Jovanović added seven points, Nadja Peković and Sofija Duletić each contributed six, while Bojana Krasnići also left her mark with four points.
 
In their match against Romania, Elena Jovanović had paved the way for the success with 16 points and Bojana Krasnići helped with 11. Sofija Duletić scored five points, with excellent serves, and Jana Mrdak, Jelena Ćorović and Nadja Peković finished the match with four points each.
 
In the first match with Slovakia, Klara Đukić was the most effective with 12 points, while Elena Jovanović added 10. Jana Mrdak scored six points, Nadja Peković and Sofija Duletić five each, and Bojana Krasnići registered four.