Czech volleyball players are in the finals of the European League after four years. The semifinals with Ukraine in Varaždin turned from 0: 2 into sets. Ukraine won the opening sets 25:23 and 25:22, but the other two ended in the same proportion in the Czech Republic. The Czechs clearly won the decisive fifth set 15:10. They will compete for the trophy on Sunday from 20:30 with the winners of the last two years of the Turks, who defeated the home team Croatia 3: 1 after sets 27:25, 21:25, 25:19 and 25:19.
The Czechs did not catch the entrance to the match and quickly lost 2: 7. During the opening set, they approached the difference of a single point several times, but the Ukrainians always bounced back to them and made five sets. Another Czech series arrived when Jan Galabov submitted, but at 23:24 the Czech smasher ruined the submission and ended the set himself. The second set was much more balanced, no team had more than a two-point lead. In the end, however, the Ukrainians broke away and a single set separated them from repeating last year’s finals.
Due to the unfavorable development, coach Jiří Novák mixed with the line-up. Only captain Adam Zajíček and smashmen Jan Galabov and Martin Lick remained stable on the board. Oliver Sedláček played in the second block position from the third set instead of Josef Polák, the pound, recorders and universal players also took turns.
In the third set, the Czech volleyball players wasted a four-point lead, so they went to a balanced finish. At 23:23, the service decided. Ukrainian captain Oleh Plotnyckyj spoiled the serve and the Czech universal Marek Šotola, who came to the end, immediately recorded an ace. The Czechs then led most of the fourth set, at the end of which Licek shone. First, he shot down the attack of the Ukrainian star Plotnycký with a single block, and a few balls later he turned the first setball with an ace.
In the tie-break, the Czechs dominated the court against last year’s finalists. They were successful in defense and were patient in attack. They bounced back to 10: 4 and kept the lead. The second swordfish turned into a smash of universal Patrik Indra. He got a chance from the middle of the match and in the end he was the most productive Czech player with nineteen points.
On the biggest occasion in this year’s European League, the enthusiastic blocker Sedláček. “I’m very happy about that, so I hope that at least I helped our team to today’s victory,” he said in a post-match media report that lasted more than two hours. “I think we determined it with fighting spirit, that there was probably the biggest difference in that speech on the field. We got into a run and then everything went better,” he added.
To Liberec Daniel Pfeffer, the Ukrainians seemed more tired from the third set. “Then they took a bit of service and that was our chance. We had a good income, we lost decently and that was it,” remarked the captain of the championship Karlovy Vary. According to coach Novák, the lack of experience of the rejuvenated Czech team manifested itself in the introduction. “The first two sets were such a rookie tax for some. They had to touch that level and get rid of the importance (match) a bit. In the end, we managed the third and fourth sets and the tie-break with bravura,” he said.
When returning to the Final Four of the European League, the men’s volleyball team repeated the success of 2018, when they were not enough for Estonia in the final in Karlovy Vary. The Czechs have the only triumph in the European League in 2004. In the final, it will also be a step to qualify for the League of Nations. In this year’s European League, both Czech national teams are in the finals, the women will face France.
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