Without a strong Buducnost, there is no strong volleyball in Montenegro, there is no strong Budva, said Miljan Boskovic, coach of Budvani, the most trophy-winning domestic club, last season.
He repeats the same sentence at the beginning of this one, even though his team has already experienced firsthand what “strong Future” means twice.
However, the team from Budva has received a new big, even desired challenge, they are aware that the season on the domestic scene will no longer be a "one-way street", and the defeats to the team from Podgorica in the Super Cup and recently in the MEVZA league will help them strengthen, stabilize and learn something before the continuation, writes Odbojka.me.
Because the fact that they lost to Buducnost doesn't mean they started the season badly, on the contrary. They won all their other matches, both in the MEVZA league against strong teams from Hungary and Slovenia, and in the first round of the CEV Challenge Cup against an unpleasant team from Luxembourg (3:2).
"I would say that we didn't start the season very well, we lost to Buducnost in the Super Cup, but we managed to quickly get into a rhythm and get out of the crisis, and the MEVZA league matches helped us realize that we have quality, even compared to good clubs from the region," Bošković recalled for the OSCG website, the victories over Maribor 3:2 and Hungarian champion MAV Elora 3:1.
"Those victories meant a lot to us, and the defeat against Buducnost also helped us, because we had the lead in practically every one of the four sets, but we were in too much of a hurry to bring them to an end. It was as if we lacked experience, calmness and concentration. And I believe that we will demonstrate what we have learned in a future match," emphasizes the coach of Budva.
The first MEVZA League tournament took its breath away, three strong games in just three days, no matter how significant, took away the freshness of his team, which failed two nights ago in the first match of the first round of the CEV Challenge Cup against Luxembourg's Strossen.
The victory that came in the fifth set heralds a tough rematch next week.
"The MEVZA league cost us, physically, and it wasn't easy against a team from Luxembourg, which is made up of a lot of foreigners and has quality. I would say that we only came to our senses in the fifth set, when we finally realized that victory wouldn't come by itself, that we had to play something. We managed to win, which is very significant, even five sets. In essence, it would have been the same if we had won 3:0, because according to the new rules, we need to win there too if we want to advance. Otherwise, we would have played a golden set. I believe that we are of better quality and that we will finish everything in the 'regular' part," Bošković points out.
A return to the domestic league follows, and for Budva, which has subscribed to trophies, it will no longer be as simple as it has been so far.
"The first MEVZA league tournament, in which we and Buducnost both recorded two victories, showed how much Montenegrin volleyball has progressed. And in the domestic league, it's not just Buducnost and us - other clubs have also progressed, everything seems to be pulling each other, look at Mornar, look at Sutjeska. It's no longer a situation where we play the domestic league with a different lineup, that belongs to the past. Look at Ulcinj, too, to whom we have loaned several of our players and whom we are following."
Stronger competition, but the goals are the same - trophies.
"The club's tradition obliges us to do that. We are not running away and we will not run away from that role, we have clear goals, and without goals there is no progress," concludes Miljan Bošković.
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