02/03/2021 15:00
Middelfart VK and Holte IF triumph in Danish Cup Finals
News from the National Federations
Copenhagen, Denmark, March 2, 2021. This past weekend, Danish Volleyball found the names of their national cup winners after two well-played finals. In the men’s competition, the underdogs Middelfart VK took everyone by surprise and power-played their way to the club’s first national cup title in 40 years against the reigning champions Gentofte Volley. In the women’s final, Holte IF retained their title against the rivals from Brøndby VK.
Men’s Final
Middelfart VK vs Gentofte Volley 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 26-24)
Even though the men’s final lacked live audience and the surrounding atmosphere, the actual match featured many interesting duels and it eventually resulted in a major surprise. Middelfart VK found their very best level at the very best time, creating quite a sensation as they stormed to a 3-0 win over the reigning champions and bookmakers’ favourites. The last time Middelfart VK could lift the trophy was in 1980, i.e. 18 years before their current captain, Nikolaj Hjorth, was born!
“This is a huge deal for us. We believed the whole way through that we could make this happen. However, to win like this with such a big margin was not something anyone of us had dared to dream about,” Hjorth says.
Women’s Final
Holte IF vs Brøndby VK 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20)
The preparations and surroundings to the women’s cup final had been far from ‘business as usual’ due to COVID-19, yet the two finalists were in no way strangers having played each other seven times for the Cup trophy since 2011. This year, Holte IF proved to be the stronger team in all the crucial moments of the game, only showing a weak moment in the third set, where Brøndby’s offensive found its rhythm and took the set. Therefore, Holte IF defended their title and took the club’s 15th national cup crown.
“We have been preparing for weeks and really looked forward to this day. We could also feel that it has been a long time since we have been in an important match like this. But to perform like we did today was truly amazing,” says Mikala Mogensen of Holte IF, who also claimed the MVP title for the third year in a row.
Pictures courtesy of Cecilie Spendrup Petersen
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