Murska Sobota, Slovenia, April 15, 2014. ACH Volley LJUBLJANA has become the men’s volleyball champion of Slovenia for the tenth consecutive, and eleventh overall, time, continuing its domination on the domestic front. The team from the country’s capital is a regular participant in Europe’s most prestigious club competition and by claiming the national title has reserved its place in the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men.
In the best-of-five championship series, ACH Volley took three victories against one for its opponent Panvita Pomgrad MURSKA SOBOTA and claimed the gold.
As a participant in the MEVZA League, ACH Volley skipped the regular season of the Slovenian domestic championship and joined it directly from the second stage. In the so called Blue Pool, the squad from Ljubljana played home and away matches with the top five teams from the regular season and won it categorically by achieving ten victories in ten games and losing only two sets.
In the quarterfinal playoffs, ACH Volley defeated SOSTANJ Topolsica twice to move on to the semifinals where it repeated this result against Salonit Anhovo KANAL to qualify unbeaten for the final. The other finalist, Panvita Pomgrad, finished third in the regular season, but became runner-up to ACH in the Blue Pool. Then it also went through the first two playoff stages undefeated, knocking out the teams of Fuzinar Metal RAVNE and 2014 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Men quarterfinalist Calcit KAMNIK.
In the first match of the championship series, Panvita Pomgrad shocked ACH Volley with a 3:2 (14-25, 23-25, 25-20, 30-28, 15-12) victory in Ljubljana. After that, things returned to normal and the reigning champions won the following three games – 3:0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-23) in Murska Sobota, 3:1 (25-19, 12-25, 25-21, 25-20) in Ljubljana and 3:1 (25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23) again in Murska Sobota. In the dramatic conclusion of the fourth set of the last match, Panvita was up by 23-21, but could not hold on to its advantage and prompt a tie-breaker.
This is the second trophy of the season for ACH Volley, after the Orange Dragons also won the Middle European League last month.
"The last game was exactly as we expected. We knew Panvita was a fighting team not to be underestimated, so we were not sure of victory even at 2:0,” ACH Volley head coach Luka Slabe said. “The opponents are constantly pushing, taking risks in serving, and they never stop playing. In the end, despite the fact that we had a lot of problems with injuries, we won and that is what is the most important. I think this is the most important national title in the history of our club. Back in December, we were on the verge of collapse, but eventually managed to save the club. Our participation in the Champions League was the main motivator to find financing and stay alive…”
“I have to admit our opponent is the better team, but in the next days I will not be able to sleep knowing that an opportunity presented itself to us to follow our dream, but we did not take advantage of it,” Panvita Pomgrad head coach Dejan Fujs stated. “Still, the boys have nothing to regret. They showed desire and fighting spirit that brought them close, but was not enough. We need to be happy with this season, because this is only the second time we are in the final of the national championship, but I hope in the coming years to make another step forward."
The bronze medals went to Calcit, which managed two straight-set wins against Salonit Anhovo in the third-place classification playoff.