Team Slovenia getting ready for intense season
News
The members of the Slovenian women’s national team have gathered in Kranjska Gora and started their preparations for the CEV Silver European League where they are due to play against Sweden, Estonia, Portugal, and Luxembourg. All 14 players from Marco Bonitta’s list have responded to the invitation, whilst Saša Planinšec, Darja Eržen, Eva Zatkovič, and Nika Milošič will join the team within the next week.
Bonitta, who took over the Slovenian team in January, is really looking forward to working with a rejuvenated group:
“I am strongly motivated to work with these girls. I am sure that we will make good use of the first part of the preparation period in Kranjska Gora and prepare well for the Silver League and the EuroVolley 2023 qualifiers. Our main goal is to set up the playing system and to get to know the roles and rules in this team.”
Slovenia will play Croatia twice in the preparatory period, followed by matches with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and will have their first official match in the Silver League on May 25 in Mislinja against Luxembourg. “It is very good that we managed to organise matches with such opponents because we have to compare ourselves with better teams and play against better teams. This is the only way to raise our level. I do not think that we are far behind in terms of quality and that is why all these matches will be very important for us,” Bonitta added.
One of the most experienced players on Slovenia’s roster is 26-year-old setter Eva Mori: “We have started our preparations and we have a lot of new, very young, and talented players. I hope that we will meet this year’s goals, which are set very high, and that is why I am looking forward to the start.”
At 16, Maša Pucelj is the second-youngest player on Bonitta’s list and has already proven herself in the Slovenian youth teams: “I came here with the aim of progressing further, to see how things are going in the senior national team and to see what practices and the system will be like. I hope to take as much as I can from this experience.”
Middle blocker Mirta Velikonja Grbac who played an important role in the Silver European League in the last season, arrived in Kranjska Gora highly motivated for new challenges:
“There is a lot of hard work ahead of us and I think that we can fulfil our goals. Although the team has completely changed, I think that we know each other so well that we can put together a team with good energy and spirit. It will all depend on us and on how much we will be willing to invest into the project. High goals are a nice motivation to progress in the game. I think we can achieve anything we want; thus, I have high expectations.”
The national team will prepare in Kranjska Gora until May 11, and on May 13, the girls will play their first match against Croatia in Varaždin. The preparatory matches against Slovakia will take place on May 18 and 19 in Kranjska Gora, while Slovenia will face the Czech Republic on May 21 and 22 in Mislinja.