The women's volleyball team of Montenegro failed to reach the final of the Silver League - Milorad Krunić's team was defeated by Portugal last night 3:0 (25:23, 25:20, 25:14).
Montenegro finished the second Silver League tournament with one defeat and one victory each. In the previous tournament, she recorded both victories (overcame the Faroe Islands and Georgia), but that was not enough to qualify for the finals.
"We didn't reach our goal, to try until the last tournament to stay in the game for the Super-Final of the Silver League. We didn't crown the good work in the preparations and the good opening at the tournament in Podgorica. We still want to continue in this rhythm, to raise ourselves and to let's do better in the qualification for the European Championship. I hope that the Silver League will show us a clearer way to be successful in the qualification. I congratulate the girls and the coaching staff, I thank everyone for being there and cheering us on," said coach Milorad Krunić. .
In the exciting first set, Montenegro managed to get out of a five-point deficit, even with a 5:0 run to tie the game at 16:16, and then gain a one-point advantage. However, the Portuguese women reached 22:19 with three tied points, then had two set balls and used the second one for the initial lead.
The missed chance in the first set seemed to shake Montenegro, so in the early stages of the next set, they again fell significantly behind. With a minus of five points, our team finished the second set, and Portugal ended the match with 25:14 in the third set and thus took the second place in the table right from our national team.
"I want to congratulate my team on a good fight. We are growing as a team and preparing for the qualifications. We are moving on, we are coming out of this stronger, as a better team," said captain Melisa Cenović.
Danijela Džaković was the most effective player with 11 points. Nevena Vukčević won six, one more point each than middle blockers Mina Dragović and Saška Đurović. Portugal was led by Julija Kavalenko with 16 points.
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