Ljubljana players erase deficit and force Game 3

ACH Volley Ljubljana : Calcit Volley 3:2 (-15, -22, 18, 17, 10)

ACH Volley Ljubljana: Toman, Ropret 3, Pernuš, Toukhteh 4, Dagostino, Pavlović 4, Bošnjak, Okroglič 1, Rutar, Pokeršnik 9, Videčnik 11, Kök 16, Vučićević 22.

Calcit Volley: Kos, Hribar, Bregar, Purić 7, Kosmina, Gasparini 12, Hebda 5, Klobučar 18, Jerončič, Brulec 2, Beravs, Štalekar 11, Plot.

In Tivoli, ACH Volley Ljubljana and Calcit Volley clashed again in the second semi-final match after Wednesday's showdown. After five sets, the home volleyball team won.

After a fairly even opening set (6:7), the Dragons started to fall behind, mainly due to their own mistakes (8:13). The Kamnik players took advantage of this and relaxed and started to score more points, while the Ljubljana players still did not catch the right rhythm (12:18). In the playoffs, the visitors twice stopped the home team's attack with a block, and Jan Klobučar closed the set with an ace (15:25).

The second set was more evenly contested. Ropret scored two consecutive aces with the opening kill (10:9) and the visiting team's coach Gregor Jerončič tried to break his streak with a half-minute break. The teams were evenly matched until 19:19, when Mitja Gasparini came to serve and made the decisive difference (19:23). The Dragons sealed their fate in the second set by touching the net (22:25).

The Ljubljana players showed a much more encouraging performance in the third set, when Vučićević's attack gave them a three-point lead (11:8). Kamnik quickly came back with Klobučar's finish (14:13) and the home team's strategist Matija Pleško reacted. Kök scored the 16th point for the Dragons (16:13), but the fighting Kamnik players did not let the Dragons get away again (17:16). Then the hosts took a 5:0 lead before the end of the set (22:16). A block by Vučićević gave the Dragons the win in the third set (25:18).

In the fourth set, the Dragons showed their distinctive face and dictated the pace from the start (8:6). In the very next action, Klobučar reduced the deficit to one point (8:7), but a block by Videčnik gave the home team a three-point lead (10:7). The Ljubljana team was led by Kök and Vučićević, while Pokeršnik and Videčnik were also reliable in attack. The Dragons also had a good start and the difference before the first final ball was already 8 points (24:16). They took advantage of the second one (25:17).

In the decisive fifth set, which would have taken Kamnik into the final and which the Ljubljana players needed to stay in the competition, the Dragons took a 6:4 lead on an attack by Kök. Vučićević continued with two aces (8:4), and then Kamnik came close with three consecutive blocks to close the gap to 11:9. By the end, the Slovenian champions had only one point left and were celebrating their 15:10 victory.

The third and final match will take place on Monday at 20:30 in Tivoli.

Jan Klobučar, Calcit Volley receiver: ''Today we came here to win. It's hard to say anything after such a defeat, considering that we were already up 2-0 and only one set away from the final. On Monday, it's a new match, a new chance. We know we can do it, we know we can do it and we have to go into the third match with that mentality and try to win.''

Matija Pleško, coach of ACH Volley Ljubljana: ''As Viki says, life is better after a win. It's true. But I would like to add right away that we have done absolutely nothing if we don't build on it on Monday and now we need to calm down, rest, even though tomorrow is training. We need to review what went well and try to eliminate what did not go well. Congratulations to every player in my team because they were the right ones today. In the first two sets I know that the desire was too great and they played in red zone, but then the hand gets shorter. I saw a lot of desire in the locker room and I liked that.''