Slovenia successful in 2011 CEV European League preliminary round – Volleyball news
After demonstrating a stellar performance in the prelims of 2011 CEV European Volleyball League, Men’s National Volleyball Team of Slovenia has reserved a slot in the Final Four stage of the tournament. Slovenians started the campaign in Pool A, where teams
from Belgium, Croatia, and Great Britain joined them.
According to the set pattern of Confederation European de Volleyball (CEV), each team appeared in 12 matches in six weeks and Slovenia played two matches per week. Slovenia made a good start by defeating Belgium in the first week matches. The Belgian side
did put up a good effort and captured one set in each match. Nonetheless, Slovenia won both matches and bagged six points at the end of the first week. The matches were played in late May in the Belgian city of Merksem . Vukovic Veselin, the head coach of
Slovenian National Team, led his team to success with a fine game plan in the match. Moreover, Slovenian success was credited to Pajenk Alen and Urnaut Tine, who did a great job at attack and defence against Belgium.
The solid start in the tournament provided grounds for the Slovenian team’s progress. In the second week, the Croatian team took on Slovenia as visitors. The hosts worked out a great straight set win in the first match against Croatia. The support of local
fans and familiar conditions provided an extra edge to the Slovenian team and they pulled off success without any loss. In the second match, Croatia resistance was much stronger. The match spanned over five sets and took many turns. Ultimately, Slovenia managed
to shrug off their opponents and get the win.
Slovenia continued with success in the third week. In the first two weeks, team proved that it has the potential to stage a good performance at home or away from home. Third week took the Slovenian team to Great Britain. They remained on the winning course
and didn’t allow the hosts to hinder their performance. Slovenia won both matches against Great Britain and firmly held the top spot in Pool A.
After spending three successful weeks, Slovenia received the first defeat in the competition from Great Britain. It was the second match of fourth week and overall fourth meeting of these two sides. GB took sweet revenge from Slovenia and out-balanced them
in the second match. The British team claimed three sets, while Slovenia could only secure one set in the whole match. The Brits finally broke the seven-match winning streak of Slovenia.
Following in the footsteps of the GB team, Croatia did the same with Slovenia in week five. Croatian side posted a straight set win over Slovenia in the second match of the fifth week. Likewise, Belgium scored one victory against Slovenia in the final weeks
of prelims.
However, Slovenia finished with the final score of 9-3, which helped them to advance to the Final Four Stage. Slovenia will open the crucial final stage of the tournament by taking on Spain at the weekend.
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