05/02/2018 17:30
VK PRIEVIDZA and Strabag VC BRATISLAVA claim historic national cup titles in Slovakia
News from the National Federations
Prievidza, Slovakia, February 5, 2018. The men’s team of VK PRIEVIDZA and the women from Strabag VC BRATISLAVA claimed this year’s edition of the Slovakian Cup as they emerged victorious from the three-day Final Six tournament hosted by the Slovak Volleyball Federation in the city of Prievidza.
VK PRIEVIDZA and Strabag confirmed their status as top favourites of the competition, since they are the current leaders of the top division in Slovakia’s Extraliga. Hosts VK PRIEVIDZA won in straight sets against VK KDS Šport Košice in the semis before on Sunday they beat TJ Slávia Svidník before 1,500 partisan spectators, doing so again in three sets. VK PRIEVIDZA are still unbeaten at home this season, as the team mentored by Richard Nemec has won ten league games and two in the Slovakian Cup.
“My players stayed focused during all matches, and they handled the pressure resulting from playing before the home crowd. It is the first title in the Slovakian Cup for our club and we are obviously satisfied. Now we need to be ready for the final part of our league season,” Nemec said.
Estonian setter Andres Toobal from VK PRIEVIDZA received the award for the MVP of the tournament. The top two teams from the regular season of the Extraliga started the event straight from the semis, whilst teams sitting from third to sixth place had to play quarterfinals first. The eventual silver medal winners of Svidnik were the biggest surprise of the tournament as they beat Spartak MYJAVA in the quarterfinals, and reigning national league champions VKP Bystrina SPU NITRA in the semis. “We did not play so good in the final like we did in the first two days. It was the third match in three days and we were a little bit tired. We are satisfied with the silver medals we took from this tournament,” said the coach of Svidnik, Peter Tholt. The 2016 and 2017 national cup winners VK MIRAD PU Prešov surprisingly lost in the quarterfinals in four sets to VK KDS Šport Košice.
In the women’s semis, Strabag VC BRATISLAVA beat KV MŠK Oktan KEŽMAROK in three sets before recording a 3-1 victory in the grand finale with Volley project UKF NITRA. Their outside hitter Erika Salanciova scored 25 points in the gold medal match and received the award for the MVP of the tournament. “This is my third title in the Slovakian Cup, but the first with Strabag Volleyball Club. I think we played good in both matches here in Prievidza and we are very happy,” said the 26-year-old Salanciova, who came back to Slovakia during the season after initially playing for T.P.M. Racing Volley in France.
It was the first appearance for the young club from the Slovakian capital in the national cup final. “It is a great feeling to win the Slovakian Cup. It was one of our goals this season, and we prepared seriously for this tournament. My players worked hard and I want to thank them for this success. We will celebrate a little bit and then we will focus on our next match in the Challenge Cup against Dinamo KRASNODAR,” added the coach of Strabag, Tomáš Varga.
The 13-time record winners of the Slovakian Cup, Slávia EU BRATISLAVA did not qualify for the final for the first time in the 20-year-long history of the competition. Slávia lost in the semi-finals to UKF NITRA in four sets. VK EPERIA Prešov and VTC Pezinok-Bilikova were the other teams participating in the Final Six.
The President of the Slovak Volleyball Federation, Mr Martin Kraščenič and men’s national team coach Andrej Kravárik attended the event in Prievidza as well. “It was a great celebration of Volleyball. We saw very good matches in both genders and I am sure that the people liked it. I want to thank our people from the federation for the good organisation and the local club VK PRIEVIDZA for their assistance. Congratulations to both winners,” Kraščenič said.
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