07/02/2017 13:50
A dream comes true for Purchartova in ‘Match of the Week’ with VakifBank
2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Dresden, Germany, February 7, 2017. One year ago, Barbora Purchartova was extremely excited on Wednesday evenings. She was not playing on these nights but she simply enjoyed watching the ‘cream of the crop’ competing in the CEV Volleyball Champions League and followed the live streaming of the matches on LAOLA1.tv. Her best friend Martina Nosekova, whom she played with in Straubing at that time, said many times that “Barbie” should be on that same court too. The Czech blond girl just laughed and focussed on the stream as she took her friend’s words as a joke. It just felt like her idols Milena Rasic and Maja Poljak were playing at a completely different level.
June 6, 2016, is a special date and a day many chose to get married. It was a lucky day for Purchartova as well. Just in another way. She reached a deal with the reigning German league and cup champions DRESDNER SC. The decision to move to Dresden was one of the easiest in her life: “As I received the offer, I immediately decided that I wanted to play for DRESDNER SC. You don’t say no to a club that celebrated three national league titles in a row and plays in the Champions League,” remembers the 24-year-old, who has experienced some ups-and-downs throughout her career so far.
After spending two years in a team with a great atmosphere in the second division of the German national league, an unpleasant season followed in 2013/2014 with VO Soadrep FARCIENNES in Belgium. The club had just moved up to the first league and things were not much organised there. The middle blocker felt extremely uncomfortable and wanted to go home. “But then I said to myself that it would make me stronger if I stayed. This experience could help me in future.” She made it through the rough time and moved to Dauphines CHARLEROI the following season. Via another stop in Straubing, where she could not join the playoffs after local club officials violated the rules of the German league, she eventually came to DRESDNER SC.
When she was younger, Purchartova was a ball retriever at Slavia PRAHA and admired outside hitter Helena Havelkova. “She was playing so well,” says “Barbie” with a big smile and sparkling eyes. She could not imagine that one day they would have ended up playing together for the Czech national team. This all started in the winter of 2013 when the Czech Republic played against Turkey in Istanbul. “It was a dream come true,” says the 189 cm tall Czech player – and another check mark on her ambitious career-to-do-list.
With her upbeat personality, Purchartova is a valuable addition to every squad, especially in matches like the upcoming clash against VakifBank ISTANBUL on Wednesday, where it is important to keep the spirits up. The away game was lost 0-3 and Purchartova knows that, even with the crowd behind them, it will not be much easier at home for the German champions. “They make almost no mistakes. You defend some balls and at the end, they still score. Most of the time from a completely different height than you are used to. We have to serve and play much more aggressively than we did two weeks ago,” she says.
DRESDNER SC vs. VakifBank ISTANBUL is the ‘Match of the Week’ in Round 4 of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women group stage. Live streaming with English commentary will be available at LAOLA1.tv. The match starts at 19:00 CET.
|