Luka Bar did not manage to win more than a set on their debut in the Champions League, but the second set and the second half of the fourth, not counting the finish itself, give Baranka hope that they can achieve a better result in the Saturday rematch in their "Topolica" against the Estonian Kohila, maybe and achieve placement in the second round of qualifications.
Namely, Vladimir Milačić's team needs a 3:0 or 3:1 victory in order to win the "golden set" and the chance to play with Serbian Vizura in the second round of qualification.
"We went into the game tight, because this is a new experience for us, we are playing in the Champions League for the first time, which, for sure, scared us all a bit. I hope that we will play better in Bar, we expect at least our better game in the second leg, because Kohila is not a team we should be afraid of. They are somewhere at our level, I think it will be much better in Bar," said Luke Bar libero Melisa Cenović.
In case they are eliminated, Baranke will continue the European competition in the first round of the CEV Cup, against the Austrian Tyrol from Innsbruck.
"We created pressure on ourselves, because this is a new experience, the Champions League. We allowed ourselves to be overcome by that initial trepidation, getting to know a team that, in general, is not superior to us. It remains for us to present ourselves in the right light in the second leg and let's try to reach the next round," said middle blocker Tijana Kruta.
As far as the match is concerned, there was no dilemma in the first three sets, it seemed that it would be there in the fourth set as well, in which the home team led 14:9. However, with a 5:0 series, Luka Bar equalized at 15:15, they were in the game until 19:21, but then Marijana Rosić made a mistake on the counter and the last chance went to waste...
Kohila - Luke Bar 3:1 (25:15, 22:25, 25:13, 25:21)
Kohila – Sports center "Kohila". Spectators: 200. Judges: Helio Ormonde (Portugal) and Alexander Pavlov (Russia). Attack points: Kohila 41, Luka Bar 30. Block points: Kohila 5, Luka Bar 6. Service points: Kohila 14, Luka Bar 14. Fouls: Kohila 24, Luka Bar 37.
Kohila: LAK 18, MONAKME 6, OUNPU 5, Pertens, Tamsar, Kardi, Merekula, KARPUSHINA 9, Karm, GORINA 16, VAHTRA (libero), PEIT 6.
Luka Bar: BOJOVIĆ 6, Dević (libero 2), Durakovic, CENOVIĆ (libero 1), JOKSIMOVIC 3, ROVČANIN 7, J. Rosić, M. ROSIC 7, Vujanović, VUKOVIĆ 18, KRUTA 8, Barjaktarović 1.
You can see the complete statistics of the match HERE.
Bonus video:
