The final of the Croatian Cup in the Bojan Stranić Hall offered an exceptional display of top volleyball that delighted the packed stands. HAOK Mladost in the women’s competition, and MOK Mursa in the men’s competition, are the winners of this year’s edition of the Croatian Cup.
The men’s final was particularly impressive, in which two Croatian giants fought a fierce battle that delighted the audience with a series of exceptional moves. Mladost and Mursa Osijek engaged in a closely contested game from the begining. However, as the first set progressed, Mursa Osijek found a better rhythm, establishing an early lead of 18-13, then 21-17, and finally finishing strong with a score of 25-19 after 25 minutes of play.
In the second set, the game was equal from the beginning, a battle between two great rivals who know each other very well. And the result somehow went in mini-series of 3-0, sometimes team Mladost , sometimes team Mursa. At the end of the set, they were equal, 20:20, so Mladost got the lead of 22-20, and Mursa reversed to 23-22. And again a series of equals, 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25, and in the end with two tied points, Mursa went to 27-25, after 31 minutes of play, big 2-0 in the sets.
In the third set, Mladost controled the game from the beginning, they played a great defense, had lead on 10-7, but not even then Mursa gives up, they were constant . After 16-13 for Mladost, team Mursa asked for a second time-out, after which team Mladost increased their lead to 17-13. A few uninterrupted blocks and it was already 19-14. But, Mursa found its power and slowly approached team Mladost and forced them to rest for a minute with their lead of 20-17, and the second time at 23-22. However, Mladost did not lose what they had earned, but ended the set with 25-22 after 31 minutes, for 2-1 in sets.
Mursa started with more pressure at the beginning of fourth set, driven by their excellent foreigners, and opened with 6:0. They led on 8-1 and 11-4 but team Mladost got new strength from somewhere and got closer to 9-11, and the match once again gained drama. Mladost took the lead at 17-16. With Zeljković’s ace, Mladost had 21-19, but the next serve ended up in the net. Nevertheless, concentrated and fighting until the end, Mladost wins the fourth set with the last point of Stevanović for 25-22 and a tie of 2-2 in the sets, after more than two hours of a top…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Other countries – WorldOfVolley…