Petar Djirlic, the Croatian national team opposite, a 205 cm tall 25-year-old who grew up in the Kastela volleyball incubator, opened his club season brilliantly. And not just anywhere, but in the Italian Superliga, probably the strongest volleyball league in the world. Petar was declared the best player of the match of the 1st round, in which his Top Volley Cisterna won 3:0 (22, 19, 23) away from the favored Allianz Milano.
In addition, let’s say right away that the same number of points, 16, was scored by his representative and now club colleague Marko Sedlacek, outside hitter.
„Yeah, we both played well, I’m satisfied“, Petar wasn’t used to bragging a lot, so we offered him the ‘option’ that each round the two of them would take turns in getting the MVP trophy.
“Yes, I sign”, said Petar. For those less knowledgeable, the club from Cisterna is actually a club from the much better known and larger Latina.
“The club moved from Latina to Cisterna, about 20 minutes by car, let’s say like from Split to Kaštela. It’s a new hall, the conditions are great, but we’ve lost a bit of the audience, they only come in larger numbers when the big clubs are visiting.”
Petar played in the same club last year, so he knows the atmosphere and ambitions of Top Volley very well.
“It’s great for me, and now with the arrival of Sedlaček, we’ve strengthened a lot. Nor is it so foreign to Marko, because he has already worked with our current coach. This is perhaps a club in Italy that is not in the foreground, but that is sometimes good, they underestimate you a little and then you surprise them. We are a ‘mix’ of young players and much older ones. There is no pressure of results, no one is asking us to enter the play-offs, although with this first win in Milano we drew attention to ourselves and everyone will surely start to perceive us differently than before. In the continuation of the Superliga, we now have several „meetings“ with teams that we can beat, so the start could be very successful, and then the appetites could increase.”
Croatian coach Cedric Enard, who won the Super Cup with his club Berlin, rounded off the excellent start to the season of the Croatian national team duo, the quality bearers in the Croatian national team. Obviously, the good work this summer through the national team continued in the club season.
“The summer was long and tiring, I think we played some 27-28 games in three months, which is a big number in addition to training. However, we had a great atmosphere, we did a great job, and most importantly, we achieved our goals. We won gold at the Mediterranean Games and what was primary, we qualified for next year’s European Championship.”
Petar is very satisfied with his games in the national team. “I played well, I was the starter almost the whole time, until a minor injury that is already a thing of the past. I am glad that I returned to the national team in the right way, and that I contributed a little to this year’s excellent results.”
