Calcit Volley poised to host the champs from the land of the reigning world champions

Calcit KAMNIK, which emerged victorious from the first-round fixtures with Mladost ZAGREB via a Golden Set last week, will now host Crvena Zvezda BEOGRAD in the second round of the CEV Champions League Volley, with a home match coming up on Thursday at 20:30. The away match will take place on Tuesday, November 8, at 20:00, in Belgrade. The reigning Serbian national champions are the pre-favourites of this double header.

Last weekend, both the team from Kamnik and the one from Belgrade recorded victories in their domestic championships. The Slovenians claimed their fifth from just as many matches, whereas the Serbs celebrated their third from three, and both teams are still to drop a single set. However, Crvena Zvezda had a much easier task on their way to the second round of the Champions League than the Slovenian national champions. In both games, they defeated the Finnish team Pölkky KUUSAMO without losing a set. On the other hand, after a weak performance and a 0-3 loss in Zagreb, Gregor Rozman’s squad knocked down Mladost 3-0 at home, before securing the all-important Golden Set.

“There are still instabilities in our game, but having this sort of inconsistency is completely normal, because we have two teenage girls in the team who are playing at this level for the first time, so does our libero Katja Banko. Therefore, these are normal things in the process of developing these players. At the same time, we still have problems within the team due to some injuries,” said Gregor Rozman, coach of the Kamnik team, who, together with Simon Krakar, his assistant, has studied Crvena Zvezda with much care. He is aware that two difficult matches await his team. After all, Crvena Zvezda is the national champion in the country that recently claimed back-to-back World Championship titles.

“Crvena Zvezda is a completely different team from Mladost. They have two experienced players in the team, Ana Živojinović and Adela Helić, who have played in the strongest leagues in Europe for many seasons. They have Aleksandra Ćirović, who has also played for the Serbian national team, in the position of setter, and they have two equal middle blockers, Božica Marković and Isidora Rodić, a very good second outside hitter, Jelena Stojić, and Sanja Đurđević as a libero, so it is a truly complete team. If we want to be even with them in the first match, we will have to show our best game this year. It will be even more difficult for us, because the first match will be at home, and the second one will be in Belgrade, where everything will be decided. But we know what it is like to play in the land of the world champions. It will certainly not be easy for us, but we will not give up, we will prepare well for Crvena Zvezda, and see how it all ends,” Rozman continued.

“Our chance to advance lies only in the team’s approach to the game, in greater desire, fighting spirit and intransigence, what graced us in the re-match with Mladost. This is the only way, I could say, also our only advantage that I see now, because if we look for individual quality, where we might be better in certain elements of the game, we are not looking well. We will have to play a collective game, think about going for every ball, take advantage of every opportunity offered, and only in this way will we be able to play on an equal footing with the team from Belgrade,” Rozman added.

It would be ideal for the Kamnik team to come to the second leg with a 3-0 or 3-1 win, maybe even 3-2, as any other result would be a big advantage for Crvena Zvezda.

In the other match of the second qualifying round, Vasas Obuda BUDAPEST defeated Tenerife LA LAGUNA 3-0 away from home. The Hungarian team needs only two more sets in the re-match, which will be held next Wednesday in Budapest. The defeated team from this pair will play in the third round with the losing side from the fixtures Calcit KAMNIK - Crvena Zvezda for the third and last spot at stake to join the pool stage of the competition.