17/10/2016 10:00
Luka BAR look forward to historic Champions League debut
2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Bar, Montenegro, October 17, 2016. Luka BAR is one of four teams that later this week will be making their historic debut in Europe’s elite club competition, the CEV Volleyball Champions League. On Tuesday, October 18 the winners of many domestic competitions in Montenegro will play Estonia’s KOHILA VC in the first round of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women before they host that same opponent on Saturday, October 22 for the re-match at home.
“This competition is played at an incredibly high level and it represents a totally new experience for us and our club,” head coach Vladimir Milacic said. “KOHILA VC have more experience than us when it comes to playing in the European Cups and they also perform in a more competitive national league than ours. Therefore, I see KOHILA VC as the pre-favourites of the upcoming matches,” he continued.
Team captain Vesna Joksimovic, who has spent many years at Luka BAR, added: “We only played in the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup before and as a result, our team lacks experience on the European stage. However, I can promise that we will put up a fight and try our best in a match that may be described as a clash between youth and experience.”
The youngest player on the roster of Luka BAR, 18-year-old Melisa Cenovic, who is also a member of Montenegro national team, said: “The club I have started my career with is now playing in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. This would represent an incredible boost of motivation even for much more experienced and better players than me. We will be doing our best to show that our youth and lack of experience do not prevent us from being competitive, but actually they add an extra bit of motivation to perform in the best possible way. If this is enough to win the upcoming matches, we’ll get to know that after the first match in Estonia.”
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