Slovakia becomes the first country to hold European Mens Title twice - Volleyball
The men’s Volleyball Team of Slovakia wrote another chapter in the history of European Volleyball on Sunday, July 17, while playing in the gold-medal match at the premier European tournament, 2011 CEV European Volleyball League. The final showdown of the
tournament brought Slovakia and Spain together onto centre court. The match was hosted by Steel Arena in Kosice, Slovakia. A passionate crowd of 4,000 fans witnessed the thrilling match, where Slovakia clinched success as they posted a 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 24-26,
25-22, and 15-12) victory over the Spaniards and added a second European title to their tally.
By winning the second gold-medal at the CEV European Volleyball League, Slovakia earned the status of the first European Team to win the title twice. Victory was most essentially credited to the good leadership of Head Coach Emanuele Zanini and the combined
effort of team. Spaniards also put up a great effort but they had to be content with Silver.
Michal Masny, the Slovakian captain set pace in the game by producing a wonderful ace in first set. Local team broke the ice and added more points in the same fashion. In response, Spain also hit nice shots and remained hand in hand with opponents. Slovakia
was one point ahead of Spain at the first technical timeout (8-7). Gustavo of Spain dismissed many of the Slovakian attack attempts but Slovakia refused to lose the spot. They continued with success and maintained lead at the second technical break 16-14.
The game of ‘hit and run’ continued and Slovakia secured opening set with 3-point margin (25-22).
After dropping the opening set, Spaniards hit back strongly in second set. They formed different combos and came from back row attack as well. Hard work paid off and Spain found a way back in the game. They hit the equalizer by reversing the same score of
25-22.
Third set was a total ball of fury. Both sides were quite warmed up and it was a real neck-to-neck fight in third set. Slovakia started off better and led the game at first technical timeout. Spaniards struggled to catch up with Slovakia but lagged behind
up till second break. However, Spanish side managed to surpass opponents at 21-19. They kept the same momentum and extended their lead to 2-1 by winning third set.
Slovakia had to win the fourth set, in order to survive in the match. They threw everything in attack and also strengthened the defence line. Meanwhile, Slovakian Head Coach called new opposite players, which truly benefitted team. Slovakia levelled the
game score in fourth set and posted 25-22 on board. The 15-point golden set put both teams to real test. Home team led the score for better part and finally closed the game with 15-12 win over Spain in final set.
Spanish Noda was named the top-scorer of the match as he clipped 28 points for Spain. Likewise, another Spaniard Iban Perez was equally active in match. He contributed 24 points via his excellent attack attempts. On the other hand, Michalovic of Slovakia
added 20 points in his team’s score.
The skipper of Spanish side, Julian Garcia-Torres congratulated the Slovakians for victory. He shared his thoughts after the match and said that the fourth set was the turning point in the game. Slovakia played better and created the tie. Afterwards, they
were slightly better in the tie break and won the match. The head coach of Spain, Fernando Munoz, had similar feelings. According to him, the proper substitution of opposites by Slovakian team enabled them to win the match. Nonetheless, he said he enjoyed
coaching in the final match.
The mentor of victorious team, Emanuele Zanini, looked more than happy about their success in the final match. He stated, “It was an excellent match, both technically and tactically. The excellent performance of young opposite Michalovic was what made the
difference. The opponent had studied Milan Bencz very well and it was a good idea to replace him with Peter for the rest of the game. Spain played with an amazing defence and we should learn from them”.
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