A successful practice run before departure for Kazan

ACH Volley Ljubljana : Salonit Anhovo 3:0 (22, 17, 20)

ACH Volley Ljubljana: Toman, Ropret 3, Pernuš, Toukhteh 6, Dagostino, Pavlović 1, Bošnjak, Okroglič 7, Rutar, Pokeršnik, Videčnik 2, Kök 14, Tzourits 14, Vučićević 21.

Salonit Anhovo: Boharev 9, Saric, Jereb, Filiputti, Karnel 1, Kavcic 2, Radosavljevic 4, Peterlin 9, Kovacic, Tomic 2, Vrtovec 8, Basaneze.

We watched an exciting first set in which both teams fought until the end. The home team started better, immediately taking a 5:1 lead, but the Primorje team only got to within a point at 8:7, and an opening kill by Karnel gave the visitors their first lead of the match at 14:13. A block by Kök gave the Dragons back a two-point lead (18:16), which they maintained until the end of the game (20:18) with Djurić's attack. With good defence and two consecutive blocks, the Ljubljana clinched the opening set.

The second set started identically to the first. The Slovenian champions took a quick lead, but were soon caught again by the Salonit players (5:5). Pleško changed the starting line-up in the second half and sent Pavlovič in for Videčnik, and for a few points he also made a change of libero - Dagostin was replaced by Toman. The Dragons showed a composed game and with two consecutive aces by Kök, the lead was already 13:9. The guests did not seriously threaten the Ljubljana team's advantage and with 25:17 the hosts led 2:0 in the set.

In the third set, the Primorje players kept in touch with the Slovenian champions until the middle of the set, when the Dragons started to make the difference (17:14) with the attacks of Mitar Djurić, who was the most efficient player in the match with 21 points. The home team finished the third set with 25:20 and enjoyed three more points.

Matija Pleško, coach of ACH Volley Ljubljana: ''It's definitely the wins that give you confidence, not the losses. Today the win came, it was relatively easy, but it wasn't. There are still things technically and tactically that I can't get past. February has started, everything is about to finish, including the Champions League. I am a little bit worried in that direction, why we are not functioning yet. I am happy that we have won. The Slovenian championship is very tight, every point is important and we are still in a dead heat with Kamnik and Maribor.''