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 match.
Mladost, strengthened by returning to the match, leads in the fifth, no more than 2 points, and the sides changed on 8-6. After that, Mursa made a 4-0 run and led 10-8. They led 13-10 to win the set, the match and the Croatian Cup with 15-11.
The best player was Da Silva Santos Pedro Luiz, he was presented with the award by the general secretary of the HOO Siniša Krajač, medals and a cup for second place were given by Zina Urlić and Mirjana Milić, members of the board of Croatian Volleyball Federation, and the gold medals were given by the president of the CVF Frane Žanić with Vanda Dobrić, daughter of the late Vinko Dobrić. The winner’s cup was awarded to Mursa players by Josip Škorić, vice president of CVF.
In the women’s finals of the Croatian Cup Snježana Ušić, a true city derby, Mladost and Dinamo, in which in the end deservedly celebrated Mladost, winning 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-18, 25-14) after an hour and a half of interesting match.
Mladost started strong from the beginning, wanting to immediately show who is the boss in their hall and the main favorite to win the title. They led 8-3 and forced Dinamo to a minute rest, then another one at 13-7. Nothing helped, so Mladost rushed to 25-11 in just 18 minutes of play. And that was the key to the second set. Because, after all, the first set was a little too fast, so Mladost unconsciously relaxed in the sequel. Dinamo opened the second set with a 6-2 lead, with Mladost looking for a break, but Dinamo was on the move, leading by a high 14:6. Coach of Mladost changed the game organizer, Klara Perić entered instead of Karla Antunović, and the result somehow stabilized, with the lead at 18-16, Dinamo coach Igor Šimunčić called a time-out. After that, Dinamo was in a rush again, they led 23-19, but Mladost reached 23-23. And then the two most experienced Dinamo players, Antonija Volmut and Valentina Vrbanc, won the set with two points, 25-23.
The third set was a fight for every point, from the beginning, until somewhere halfway through the set, Mladost took off, first at 19-15, then at 21-16, until the final 25-18.
It seemd that all Dinamo resistance was broken there, so in the fourth set there was no more strength to turn around, they somehow held on until 10:10, but then once again Mladost ends fourth set with 25-14, for the final 3-1 in sets.
Andrea Mihaljević and Josipa Marković each scored 18 points for the winners, Valentina Vrbanc 14 for the losers.
The best player of the final was Andrea Mihaljević, the silver medals were presented to Dinamo by the Secretary for Sports Josip Pavić together with the president of the Croatian Volleyball Federation Supervisor Board Zina Urlić, while the cup was awarded by Petar Sprčić, deputy president of the CVF.
The gold medals were handed out to the team Mladost by Siniša Krajač, the general secretary of the Croatian Olympic Committee and the director of the CVF, Valentina Bifflin, while the cup was awarded by the president of the CVF, Frane Žanić, alongside Sven Ušić.
Croatian Cup – Final – Men’s
HAOK Mladost vs MOK Mursa 2-3 (19-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 11-15)
Croatian Cup – Final – Women’s
HAOK Mladost vs OK Dinamo 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-18, 25-14)
