18/02/2015 10:52
Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD claim fourteenth crown in Serbia’s national cup
News from the National Federations
Novi Sad, Serbia, February 18, 2015. Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD claimed last weekend the Serbian National Cup for the 14th time in their history. In the final match of the 50th edition of the prestigious competition, which was played in the city of Novi Sad, Vojvodina NS Seme defeated Partizan BEOGRAD by 3:1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-18, 25-18) after 100 minutes of play.
The match was played at SPC Vojvodina sports hall in front of 1,500 spectators. The hosts of Vojvodina NS Seme deserved to win the coveted trophy after beating Crvena Zvezda in the semis and the competition’s pre-favourites Partizan in the final.
Mr Nenad Golijanin, First Vice-President of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia, presented the championship trophy to Veljko Petkovic, Vojvodina NS Seme team captain. Mr Goran Cato, President of the Association of First Division Volleyball Clubs, awarded Ivan Kostic, team captain of Partizan, with the trophy for the runners-up of the competition.
Vasa Mijic, former national team player and winner of the gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, awarded the MVP of the tournament, Drazen Luburic, the opposite player of Vojvodina NS Seme.
Mr Slobodan Milosevic, Secretary General of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia, and Mr Predrag Svilar, a member of the City Council of Novi Sad responsible for sport, handed over the gold medals to the players of Vojvodina NS Seme. Mr. Vladimir Siska, President of the Sports Association of Novi Sad, and Djula Mester, former national team player, also a gold medallist from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and member of the Vojvodina NS Seme Board of Administration, presented the silver medals to the players of Partizan.
Mr Dragutin Cuk, Technical Director of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia, and Mr Dejan Jovanovic, President of the Association of Volleyball Referees of Serbia, gave away special commemorative medals to all officials.
Asmir Kolasinac, a European shot put champion, attended the final match from the stands. On Saturday he had improved his own indoor Serbian national record by recording 20.91 meters.
“We prepared well for this tournament. This is a great achievement for this young team. Thanks to this wonderful crowd for supporting us. We deserved this,” said Veljko Petkovic, team captain of Vojvodina NS Seme.
“Congratulations to Vojvodina NS Seme. Over the weekend they played their best Volleyball this season. Neither we nor Crvena Zvezda could find an answer for their game. We wanted this trophy very much, but they were more focused in the decisive moments,” said Marko Nikolic, team captain of Partizan.
“We deserved this trophy. We played very well, we were patient, and we knew how to use our opportunities. Our fans helped us a lot as well. This will be a great incentive for us for the remainder of the season,” commented Strahinja Kozic, the head coach of Vojvodina NS Seme.
“Congratulations to Vojvodina NS Seme. They were motivated and they deserved this victory. We had our chances, but we failed to convert them. Life goes on, and now we turn back to the national league,” said Vladimir Vasovic, head coach of Partizan.
“I didn’t expect to be the MVP. I just wanted to win the trophy, and this came along the way. I was the go-to guy in this match, but that was our plan and it turned out just great,” concluded Drazen Luburic, MVP of the final match and Vojvodina NS Seme opposite.
Final Four tournament – Results
Semi-finals
Partizan BEOGRAD vs Radnicki KRAGUJEVAC 3:0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-17)
Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD vs Crvena Zvezda BEOGRAD 3:1 (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19)
Final match
Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD vs Partizan BEOGRAD 3:1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-18, 25-18)
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