The senior women's national team of Montenegro defeated Georgia in Tbilisi 3:0 (25:14, 25:11, 25:14) in the 4th round of Group B of the CEV Silver League and practically secured a place in the final tournament which is played in Austria.
Milorad Krunić's selection in Tbilisi celebrated for the second time in just seven days against the same rival, to whom it did not even lose a set in Podgorica in the last round, and reached the Top 4 stage after Austria beat Latvia away 3:1.
It is necessary for a sensation to happen in the last two rounds of both groups, i.e. for Montenegro to lose to Portugal and the Faroe Islands at home, and Austria to Estonia and North Macedonia, also on home turf, so that our girls are not the best runner-up group stage selection.
The epilogue of the match in Tbilisi could be guessed from the opening - the opening three points of the first set went to our volleyball players, who gradually built up the advantage until the final +11 for a 1:0 lead.
In the second set, Melisa Cenović and her teammates were even more convincing. With a 9:0 series, they entered the continuation of the game, won 12 of the first 15 points of the second set, which they won with as many as 14 points, 25:11.
Only once in the match did the home team have an advantage, 7:6 in the third set, in which the match was tied at 8:8. Since then, our national team has been winning points in the mini-series until the finish line when it stepped on the gas. The last six points went to Montenegro, which ended the match with 25:14.
In the third victory of the Montenegrin volleyball players in group B of the CEV Silver League, Dijana Vuković stood out with 17 points, Katarina Budrak and Danijela Džaković scored 11 each, and Nevena Vukčević scored in double figures with 10 points. In the selection of Georgia, Ana Tevdoradze was the most effective with eight points.
"Congratulations to the girls and coaching staff on a very important victory for us in Georgia. These three points mean a lot to us for further placement. Now we welcome Portugal more calmly and will do our best to attack them with all weapons. Again today we tried some new variants and combinations, all with the aim of making it clearer to us what can be done in which position. We were able to make some changes regarding the game, and the result did not suffer, it remained positive, 3:0. We have a long way home and two days of preparation ahead of us. We hope that the audience in Herceg Novi will manage to create an atmosphere like the really great Georgian audience did today. I haven't played a game in front of such passionate fans in a long time. That's what we need in Herceg Novi, so let's try to play for the number one spot," said coach Krunic after the victory in Tbilisi.
Captain Melisa Cenović was also satisfied.
"I congratulate the team on this victory. A good game, without many mistakes and a good sacrifice on the field led us to these three points, which are very important for us to advance to the final tournament. We will play the next match in Igalo on June 14, so I invite all volleyball fans to come and support us".
The women's senior selection returns to Herceg Novi in which they will conclude the group stage of the CEV Silver League with matches on Wednesday, June 14 against Portugal and two days later against the Faroe Islands.
GEORGIA - MONTENEGRO 0:3 (14:25, 11:25, 14:25)
Tbilisi - Tbilisi Sports Hall. Judges: Prozorov (Moldova), Guniava (Georgia). Attack points: Georgia 19, Montenegro 43. Block points: Georgia 5, Montenegro 7. Service points: Georgia 1, Montenegro 11. Fouls by opponents: Georgia 11, Montenegro 11.
GEORGIA: Gaprindashvili, Tevdoradze 8, Zhgenti, Katsitadze (libero), Chumburidze, Ulumbelashvili 5, Beriashvili 1, Kobiadze 2, Mushkudiani 2, Epremidze (libero), Markarashvili 2, Chauchidze, Lobzhanidze 5;
MONTENEGRO: Đurović 2, Tvrdisić, Cenović (libero), Šušić 4, Jovović, Labović (libero), Vuković 17, Džaković 11, Tuševljak, Vukčević 10, Budrak 11, Dragović 7.
Bonus video:
