Humenne finishs with victory

The qualification round of this season's MEL Men saw its last match on Sunday with the encounter of Chemes Humenne vs. VCA Hypo Niederösterreich in which the hosts from Slovakia achieved a 3:0 (25:13, 25:22, 25:11) victory. However, the result did not have any consequences for the ranking since the positions were already determined before the encounter.

The home team did not send its top players on the court but a very young team composed of players of the U17 and U19 teams who usually are active in the Lower Austrian League. The only experienced player in the starting 6 was middle blocker and Austrian team player Philip Ichovski.

The MEL will now continue with the play-offs where the pre-qualified teams of Hypo Tirol and Ach Volley Laibach will join the competition. So far now dates have been set for the quarter finals.

"We will wait for the European Cup encounter vs. Minsk then we will fix the schedule. The plan is to start with the play-off matches end of January", explains Aich/Dob manager Martin Micheu.

Linz-Steg defeats Vukovar
In the women's competition two encounters were scheduled this weekend. On Saturday ASKÖ Linz-Steg defeated Vukovar at 3:2 (25:16, 23:25, 19:25, 26:24, 15:8). The girls of the home team had to play without Brittney Brimmage from the US but were able to keep the upper hand in just under 2 hours thus climbing to position eight in the ranking. "In the beginning we caught the Croatians on the wrong foot. We also played strongly in the second set but were not able to score the big points. When it seemed that the match would slip from our hands my team showed its mental strength and fought back. The decisive fifth set was relatively clear affair', said Linz-Steg manager Walter Hartl after the encounter.

MEL Women
Slavia EU BRATISLAVA (SVK) - Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) 3:0 (25:19, 25:13, 25:18)
Duration: 70 minutes
Best scorers Bratislava: KOSOVA 15, SALANCIOVA 11, GOLITKOVA 10; Best scorers Kamnik: HADZIc 7, HANDANOVIC 5, TURNSEK 5

ASKÖ LINZ Steg (AUT) - ZOK VUKOVAR (CRO) 3:2 (25:16, 23:25, 19:25, 26:24, 15:8)
Duration: 117 minutes
Best scorers Linz Steg: MEYERS 33, NIKOLOVA 18, CHUKWUMA 10, TEUFL 10; Best scorers Vokovar: STARCEVIC 16, STIPANOVIC 13, DZAMARIJA 11

MEL Men (last encounter qualification round)
Chemes HUMENNÉ (SVK) - Hypo NÖ AMSTETTEN (AUT) 3:0 (25:13, 25:22, 25:11)
Duration: 71 minutes
Best scorers Humenne: DEKKER 14, HUDAK 13, JAKOBOV 13; Best scorers Amstetten: ICHOVSKI 7, KATTNER 5

MEL Quarter Finals (Best-of-3)
ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) - hotVolleys VIENNA (AUT)
Hypo NÖ AMSTETTEN (AUT) - Mladost Marina KA¦TELA (CRO)
Chemes HUMENNÉ (SVK) - Posojilnica AICH/DOB (AUT)
Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (AUT) - Mladost ZAGREB (CRO)

MEL Women, 21.01.:
VK Doprastav BRATISLAVA (SVK) - SVS Post SCHWECHAT (AUT) 3:2 (25:17, 25:21, 20:25, 21:25, 15:13)
Spieldauer: 106 Minuten
Topscorerinnen: ROJKOVA 21, HENSON 20, PALGUTOVA 12 bzw. SIMICH 16, INIC 11, COOPER 10

Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO) - Vasas Óbuda BUDAPEST (HUN) 3:1 (25:18, 24:26, 25:22, 25:19)
Spieldauer: 106 Minuten
Topscorerinnen: AMMERMAN 21, POTOKAR 15, HUTINSKI 10 bzw. SANDOR 25, MIKLAI 12, NAGY 11

Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) - ASKÖ LINZ Steg (AUT) 3:2 (20:25, 22:25, 25:19, 25:18, 15:12)
Spieldauer: 130 Minuten
Topscorerinnen: TURNSEK 20 bzw. MEYERS 21 - MEL