14/07/2014 19:41
Slovenia’s mentor confident ahead of second semi-final match-up with Greece
2014 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Maribor, Slovenia, July 14, 2014. On Wednesday, July 16, Slovenia’s men’s national team will continue their chase for the title of this year’s CEV Volleyball European League by playing the second semi-final match with Greece at Lukna sports hall in Maribor. Last Saturday Slovenia claimed the first round in Thessaloniki by edging the local heroes at the tie-break and a second victory would propel the team around head coach Luka Slabe to the final, playing there the winner of the Balkan derby starring Montenegro and the Former Y.R. of Macedonia.
If they make it to the last stage of the competition, this will be Slovenia’s best result in the European League. However, the team has stated already before the start of this campaign that their sole goal is to win the European League to get the right to participate in the next edition of the elite FIVB Volleyball World League.
Even though head coach Slabe was hoping to take three points from the away match in Greece, he nevertheless got what he wanted from the first semi-final: “Greece played a good match but we were not at our best,” he says. “We have to step up on Wednesday if we want to make the finals. It is not going to be that easy. We know that Greece can also perform better than they did but we are hoping for the best result.”
Slabe wants his guys to be more aggressive in attack and to record fewer mistakes than they made last Saturday in Thessaloniki. They also have to pressure Greece with their serve and show good reception. “I am confident that we will achieve our goal,” he stresses. “For the next couple of days we will be working on those things that did not turn out that good on Saturday. By Wednesday we shall have improved on all of these fundamentals.”
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