First match won

OK Merkur Maribor : ACH Volley Ljubljana 1:3 (23, -23, -18, -20)

Merkur Maribor: Cafuta 6, Detela, Šket 10, Mulec 1, Možič 23, Donik, Uremovič 6, Adžović A., Kisiliuk 16, Ikhbayri, Kovačič, Planinšič 1, Košenina (L), Herman (L). Coach: Sebastijan Škorc

ACH Volley Ljubljana: Ropret 2, Pernuš, Toukhteh 12, Pavlovič, Bošnjak, Okroglič, Rutar, Pokeršnik 15, Videčnik 9, Kök 18, Vučičević 20, Dagostino (L), Toman (L). Coach: Matija Pleško

Merkur Maribor and ACH Volley Ljubljana played their first final match in Tabor. The Orange Dragons won the first round 3:1.

The match started as expected evenly, but with a lot of errors on the opening hit on both sides. The teams got into the second half of the set, with Vučićević and Kisiliuk being on the ball for the Ljubljana and the home team respectively. At 15:15, Toukhteh left the game with an ankle sprain, but returned in the second set. In the next action, Kisiliuk scored an ace (16:15) and the Dragons' strategist Matija Pleško intervened. The two best teams in the Slovenian championship this year entered the playoffs evenly matched (20:20), but the hosts got the first final ball (24:22) and took advantage of Kisiliuk's attack (25:23).

In the second set, it was the Dragons who took the first advantage, leading by four points (9:13) with Vučićević´s finish. Kisiliuk brought Maribor back into the game and they were only two points behind (14:16), but a block by the Ljubljana team brought them back to 15:19. It looked like the visitors' margin would be enough, but in the endgame the home team first with an ace by Uremovic, and then with a block, gave themselves a chance to win the second set (22:23). The Dragons, however, took the set to the end and won 25:23 thanks to a block by Amir.

The third set was dominated by the reigning Slovenian champions, who led 8:3 early on with an ace by Vučićević. Maribor could not find an answer to the spirited visitors, who only increased their lead (16:10). They played solid defence, finishing their attacks with confidence (21:13) and convincingly took a 2:1 lead in the set with 25:18.

The start of the fourth set was the visitors' way, with Toukhteh's attack giving them a 13:8 lead. After Uremovič's finish and Možič's ace, the Maribor players came close to a two-point deficit (12:14), but the Dragons didn't allow a turnaround (13:7). They entered the playoffs with a four-point lead (16:20), which they calmly took to the end (25:20).

Sebastijan Škorc, coach of Merkur Maribor: "ACH played the whole game at the highest possible level, it was one of their best games of the season. They rightly showed today that they are the favourites of the championship. We are not satisfied with that, we have work to do and a new match on Tuesday. We are going to Ljubljana to fight. If they won today in Maribor, why shouldn't we in Ljubljana?"

Matija Pleško, coach of ACH Volley Ljubljana: "The first set was played at a high level, especially in attack. It is rare that two teams attack over 70% in a given set. So, good job by the outside-spiker, the setter and the attackers. In the end, unfortunately, one ball decided in favour of Merkur Maribor, but we didn't give up, we believed in ourselves and did the things we needed to do. In the end, the result didn't go away, but this series is far from decided."