The Orange Dragons Already in Kragujevac

Only one final hurdle remains for ACH Volley Ljubljana on their path to the highly desired Champions League group stage. Early this morning, the full squad led by head coach Igor Kolaković departed for central Serbia, where they will face Serbian champions Radnički tomorrow at 18:00 in the first leg of the 3rd qualifying round.

Radnički advanced to the third round by defeating Azerrail Baku, the champions of Azerbaijan, twice by 3:0 in the opening round. In the second round, they first claimed a 3:2 away victory and then a 3:0 win at home against Austrian champions TSV Raiffeisen Hartberg. Notably, the Serbian side has not lost a single set this season in their home arena, Jezero Hall in Kragujevac, which holds 3,500 spectators.

The team from Kragujevac won the Serbian championship for the third time this year, their first title since 2010. Their roster is built around experienced Serbian players and led by head coach Aleksa Brđović. In the first two qualifying rounds, their top scorers were 39-year-old opposite Mladen Bojović, 25-year-old middle blocker Vladimir Gajović, and 27-year-old outside hitter Ivan Ćirović. Ljubljana may hold a slight advantage in terms of coaching insight—ACH head coach Igor Kolaković is a former Serbian national team selector, and assistant coach Dragan Kobiljski is a former Radnički head coach.

ACH Volley will aim to secure the best possible result ahead of the return leg, which will take place next Thursday at 20:00 in Tivoli Hall. The aggregate winner will advance to the Champions League group stage, where top teams Itas Trentino, Ziraat Bank Ankara, and Tours VB are already awaiting their opponent.

Before departing for Kragujevac, head coach Igor Kolaković and libero Jani Kovačič shared their thoughts on the upcoming challenge.

Igor Kolaković:
"We are fully focused on Wednesday’s match. We want to show our true quality and return from Serbia with a positive result. Despite the great comeback and the important win against the Romanians last Thursday, we do not want to find ourselves in another difficult situation. We are motivated and determined to avoid relying on the second match in Ljubljana to fix things—we want to confirm our place in the Champions League group stage as soon as possible."

Jani Kovačič:
"Our only goal for Wednesday’s match in Serbia is victory. We respect Radnički and understand their strengths, but we need to secure a good starting point already in the first leg. We have the quality and a strong desire to win in Kragujevac."

The match from Kragujevac will be broadcast tomorrow at 17:50 on Kanal A.