The Czech women's volleyball players beat Slovakia at the start of the European League

> Match of the 2nd round of Group B of the European Women's Volleyball League: Czech Republic – Slovakia, May 31, 2023, Zlín. From left, Michaela Mlejnková from the Czech Republic, Magdalena Jehlarová from the Czech Republic and Diana Návratová from Slovakia.

Zlín – Czech volleyball players beat Slovakia 3:1 in Zlín at the start of the European League after sets of 25:16, 22:25, 25:20 and 25:11. The team leader was the sweeper Michaela Mlejnková with 23 points. Group B also includes the Romanian women, who lost the home match against Slovakia. The Czechs will face them in a replay of last year's semi-final on Saturday in Ostrava.

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In the starting line-up of the rejuvenated Czech team, next to the captain Mlejnkova, other participants of last year's WC Kateřina Valková, Gabriela Orvošová, Ela Koulisiani, Magdaléna Jehlářová and Daniela Digrinová joined the libero. They were joined by the 20-year-old sweeper Magdaléna Bukovská, who played only sporadically in the last edition of the European League.

The Czechs, who are defending silverware in the Europa League, confirmed their role as favorites from the start. They did well on the pass, so Valková could often use the central players in the attack. In total, the home players had a sixty-three percent attack success rate in the opening set.

In the second set, however, the tide began to turn. The Slovaks looked for Bukovska's serve, which was not so accurate on the pass under pressure. The Czechs thus attacked the balanced Slovak defense, which gradually developed into an excellent performance. The Slovaks already led 22:17. Although the hosts leveled the Bukovskés at 22:22 with a service series, the last three balls again belonged to the Slovaks.

“We had a great first set, but in the second we lost our concentration a little bit. we want to play these matches that could show our weaknesses in order to improve,” coach Jannis Athanasopulos said in a press release.

In the third set, the Czechs once again made their passing more precise and asserted themselves in attack, although against the tenacious Slovaks, they often put the ball away on the umpteenth attempt. With a five-point streak, they ran to 13:10 and gradually increased their lead to five points. With a patient game supported by high-quality service and good blocks, they took the set to the winning end without any problems.

The home team finally broke the resistance of the Slovakian volleyball players with an eight-point streak in the fourth set, when they jumped to 12:5. Then practically everything started to go well for them. As a result, the last two Czech substitutes, who did not get the chance before, could also get on the pitch.

With the score 16:7, the coach sent in the second libero Luciá Kolářová, the sister of Ondřej Kolář, the goalkeeper of Slavia Prague. At 21:10, only seventeen-year-old sweeper Joséfina Smolková also got on the board. Valková gave her confidence at match point and Smolková ended the match with an attack.

The federal derby ended 3:1 for the Czech team, just like in both games of the basic group in the last season of the European League. He continues to lead Group B. “We are looking forward to the match in Ostrava and I hope that a lot of fans will come to support us. We were very strong on the serve and on the loss, but we have to work on a lot of things to improve our game even more,” said the Greek coach .

European volleyball league in Zlín:

Group B:

Czech Republic – Slovakia 3:1 (16, -22, 20, 11)

Referee: Vinalijev (Bulgaria), Marschner (Czech Republic). Time: 105 min. Spectators: 1200.

Composition and points Czech Republic: Bukovská 13, Koulisiani 7, Orvošová 17, Mlejnková 23, Jehlářová 15, Valková 4, libero Digrinová/Kolářová – Pelikánová, Brancuská 2, Jedličková 3, Kalhousová, Pavlova , J. Smolková 1. Coach: Athanasopulos.

Most points of Slovakia: Šepeľová 14, Fričová 13, Abrhámová 10.

Table: