The first highlight of the season is just around the corner

This weekend is the final tournament of the Central European League. The competition, in which ACH Volley Ljubljana volleyball players are defending their victory. In the semi-final, the hosts of the tournament, Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel, await them in the fight for the eleventh laurel.

Last season, the Dragons also played the Austrian team in the semi-finals, winning in five sets, and in the final they beat Zagreb. "It is a positive thing that we finished the regular part of the MEVZA in first place. But it's true that now everything starts anew and today we have our first obstacle - the home Waldviertel. Of course they are a tough opponent, they have strengthened at the outside-spiker position, they play at home and we saw last year that it was a tough game in the semi-finals. I don't expect anything easy, but we will see how and what will happen at 8 p.m. when we start the game,'' said Matija Pleško, the Ljubljana team's strategist, before today's game.

The other semi-final consists of the remaining Slovenian clubs in the MEVZA league - OK Merkur Maribor and Calcit Volley. ''From the beginning of this competition, it was clear that Slovenian teams are capable of coming out on top. I think this is absolutely positive for Slovenian volleyball. This leap in quality in the national league due to the increased investment of clubs - Kamnik, Maribor, also Salonit - can be felt, because the quality of our league has really increased. I just welcome that,'' Pleško added.

MEVZA F4 | Zwettl, Austria

Saturday, 27 February 2021
at 17:00 | CALCIT VOLLEY - OK MERKUR MARIBOR
at 20h | ACH VOLLEY LJUBLJANA - UNION RAIFFEISEN WALDVIERTEL

Sunday, 28 February 2021
at 17h | 3rd place match
at 20h | 1st place match