The Lionesses of Spain victorious in Maribor
Report
Spain clinched their first victory at the 2024 Golden #EuroLeagueW and are currently ranked 6th. The players of head coach Pascual Saurin, who had previously lost to Sweden and Belgium, were successful on Friday, winning in straight sets against Slovenia in Sportna Dvorana Ljudski Vrt in Maribor.
The Lionesses dominated on the court throughout all the three sets, emerging victorious at 16, 22 and 13, respectively.
The Spanish ladies outperformed their opponents on all counts, finishing with 44 winning spikes (to 32), 10 kill blocks (to three) and seven aces (to three).
Paola Martinez Vela became top scorer of the match, recording as many as 14 points to her name (36% exc. in attack).
For Slovenia, Nika Markovic finished with 12 points (26% exc. in attack, two kill blocks).
The Spanish team took the leadership position right after the first referee whistle - showing power from the serving line, the Lionesses, led by Raquel Lazaro in these moments (12-6), could make a comfortable point difference and open the match in their favour.
The second set turned out to be the most interesting ones, with the Slovenian girls trying to find a response to the Spanish play. Following each other in the score in the beginning (4-4), Slovenia could take the lead (12-8 in their favour). However, in these moments Paola Martinez Vela was unstoppable on serve, spike and block, and helped her team get closer (14-15). In a “cat-and-mouse” game after that, the Spaniard showed resilience and emerged victorious at 25-22.
Inspired by the good outcome in the second set, Spain delivered a greater performance in the second set, and controlling completely what was happening on the court, congratulated themselves with the win.