Great desire was not enough, Slovenia better than Montenegrin volleyball team at the start of the European League

Great desire and struggle were not enough for our best Montenegrin volleyball players to properly compete with Slovenia at the start of the European League - 25:18, 25:17, 25:22.

"Zmajčice" demonstrated quality, experience and variety in their game in Bar, in the SC "Topolica" hall - in short, they showed the level to which our team aspires, where it wants to be one day, writes odbojka.me.

Sixteen-year-old technician Nađa Peković made her debut for our country's senior national team, and coach Jovo Caković put her in the "fire" from the start, and her performance against a class rival supports that thesis.

However, Montenegro will have to wait for a slightly easier rival than Slovenia to collect their first points in the Europa League, and that opportunity may be on Sunday, when their rival is the Georgian national team, also in Bar.

The Slovenians dictated the pace from the start, but our team held on to the score until the middle of the first set - the guests tied the score at 12:11 to make it 15:11, Montenegro reduced it to 15:13, and then another 3:0 - 18:13 and the beginning of the denouement of the first part of the game. Then the Montenegrin serve suddenly weakened, while the Slovenian team did everything without a mistake, for 25:18.

The second half of the game started in a similar vein, with the visitors leading 11:5, when Caković's team's best period of play followed. Nikoleta Perović's serve, Saška Đurović's block, Teodora Čavić's ace serve, and Nađa Peković's block as the highlight of the 5:0 series and a return to the game in the second set.

However, there was a lack of continuity in the game, a somewhat longer positive sequence, so after the flash, a discharge followed, Slovenia went from 11:10 to 15:11, then 22:15, and in the end won the second set even more convincingly (25:17).

In the third part of the game, Montenegro led for the first time - 1:0, but even more convincingly and significantly - 14:12, but again could not maintain the rhythm until the end. They nevertheless offered the greatest resistance, but the points went to the "country", which used the first match point for 25:22.

The match with Georgia will be played on Sunday at 19 pm, and our next rivals will face Slovenia tomorrow.

Before the start of the match in "Topolica", the president of the Volleyball Association, Nikola Kažić, presented the award to Saška Đurović for the best volleyball player of our country abroad for 2025, as the Portuguese champion with Porto did not attend the ceremony at the end of December due to club obligations.

MONTENEGRO - SLOVENIA 0:3 (18:25, 17:25, 22:25)

Bar - SC “Topolica”. Spectators: 300. Referees: Peter Sabo (Hungary) and Stefano Nava (Italy).

Montenegro: Đurović 8, Perović 14, Cenović (libero), Šušić 1, Čavić 4, Jovović, Madžgalj, Peković 1, Vuković, Petranović 7, Mitrović, Veličković (libero), Rakočević, Dragović 4. Coach: Jovo Caković.

Slovenia: Pavlović Mori 5, Milošić, Pucelj 14, Lorber Fijok 6, Sila 17, Zatković 1, Šiftar 2, Frelih, Milošić 6, Mazej (libero), Donko (libero), Planinšec 10, Gornjec Hodnik, Hačlužan Sagadin. Coach: Alesandro Orefiće.