The volleyball players of OTP Banka Branika defended the title of Slovenian national champions. Photo: Volleyball Federation of Slovenia
OTP banka Branika volleyball players defended the title of national champions
The OTP banka Branika volleyball players defeated Calcit Volley in the 3rd game of the national championship final and won the title of national champions with a score of 3:0.
The volleyball players of OTP Banka Branika defended the title of Slovenian national champions. They won the final series against Calcit Volley with a score of 3:0, and in the third match in the Tabor hall in Maribor, they won with a score of 3:0. This is the 18th women’s championship title for Maribor volleyball players.
If last year they surprised with victory, their dominance this season is expected, as Calcit has greatly changed and rejuvenated the team. The Styrian women reliably won the regular part, but in the playoffs they only proved that they are currently the best Slovenian team. Even in the final, in which the first two games were tied, they ended with a score of 3:2, while the third game was entirely in the domain of the Maribor women.
In the first set, the rivals were completely outplayed. They were better in all elements, in the attack they could not stop the attacks of the home strikers led by Iza Mlakar, who was extremely motivated in her last match of her career. The home team won the first higher advantage with five consecutive points after the result 8:7, and after the result 15:11 they again won four points in a row, even then it was more or less clear that they would lead with 1:0.
But as was to be expected, such dominance on the field could not last and last. In the second set, the home team started well again, leading for a long time, but not by more than three points. On the 18th point, the Kamničan women caught them, then even took the lead, but the playoff went to the bankers. Žana Ivana Halužan Sagadin served perfectly, ending the set with two aces, and before that Mlakar took over the responsibility in the attack.
In the third set, the two teams took turns in the lead, but again it was decided by a playoff. With the Maribor women leading 21:20, everything was still open, but the visitors’ hands shook in the playoffs, they made three mistakes, and Halužan Sagadin ended the match with an ace just like the second set.
Mlakar collected 22 points in her last game, half as many as Calcit’s most effective player Neja Čižman.
“The first two games we were chasing each other, but today we showed our best game. I’m happy with the victory and the second title in a row, I’m very proud of this team. It’s true that I’m saying goodbye, that this was my last game in my career, but don’t let that overshadow the success of the girls and all of us. Four years ago, I said goodbye once, but now it’s really a final goodbye, it’s nice to finish in this way,” he told Sportklub, the league’s sponsor, said former representative Mlakar, who also studied hard and is employed as a doctor.
“It was a series of ups and downs, a little bit of everything. We gave everything we could give. We tried to make life a little bit harder for them, I think we succeeded in that and we can be proud. Considering what the expectations were at the beginning of the season, even qualifying for the final is a success for us,” Calcita captain Anja Maček was not particularly disappointed.
