The favourites have confirmed their strength! ACH Volley Ljubljana, Alpacem Kanal and Calcit Volley are already looking towards the quarter-finals with convincing victories. 
Stats again in the commentary on TV Volleyball, for the first time in an interactive display! How did the Ljubljanaers get 71% turnovers? What decided the showdown between Črnuče and Šoštanj-Topolšica? 
All about the drama in Group B! Spaniard Brezovica with a top performance and Kočevje’s young hopefuls who are still surprising. 
The volleyball players played the last, fourteenth round of the first National Volleyball League, both in Group A and Group B in the first part of the championship. In the Sportklub First Volleyball League we saw the expected outcome, the favoured teams hosting the lower ranked teams confirmed their quality and won all of them clean in three sets.
ACH Vollley Ljubljana blew away Merkur Triglav Kranj on Friday, which this year with a rejuvenated line-up, unlike last season, is simply not competitive with the Ljubljana team. We might have had the highest hopes for the meeting between Kamnik and Novomeš, but Calcit Volley also eliminated Krka in three sets. Panvita Pomgrad had a few small chances to win the third set in Kanal, when the Mursk-Sobos managed to catch Alpacem Kanal, but in the end, the Kanals won without giving up a set, to the cheers of their fans. i-Vent Maribor gave up only 43 points to Fužinar, also in three sets.
Izidi štirinajstega kroga Sportklub prve odbojkarske lige za odbojkarje
ACH Volley Ljubljana : Merkur Triglav Kranj
  3 - 0Match Day Fourteen
Tivoli Hall, Ljubljana N/A ACH Volley Ljubljana : Merkur Triglav Kranj |
Calcit Volley : Krka
  3 - 0Match Day Fourteen
Kamnik Sports Hall N/A Calcit Volley : Krka |
Alpacem Kanal : Panvita Pomgrad
  3 - 0Match Day Fourteen
Kanal Sports Hall N/A Alpacem Kanal : Panvita Pomgrad |
i-Vent Maribor : Fužinar SIJ Metal Ravne
  3 - 0Match Day Fourteen
Tabor Hall, Maribor N/A i-Vent Maribor : Fužinar SIJ Metal Ravne |
A quick glance at the statistics shows the dominance of all home teams. The most obvious dominance was shown by the Ljubljana team in the meeting with Kranj, who managed to get only six percent of the points on their own serve, and therefore the 41 percent of the points after the serve were not of any help to them, as the Ljubljana team had 71 percent of the points.
Similarly, the dominance of the volleyball players of Calcit Volley and Alpacem Kanal was also very strong. The Kamnik players had a 70 per cent first attack after a good serve reception and a full 50 per cent after a bad reception. In short, they smashed the Krka players, as Kamnik coach Gašper Ribič said, Kamnik players pressed with their serve from the first to the last point and forced Krka volleyball players to only 14 percent successful attacks after a bad reception.
Alpacem Kanal allowed Panvita Pomgrad’s players to get closer in the third set after young receiver Nik Marič entered the game, but it was still not enough to win the set.
Although the Maribor players did not dominate statistically as the above mentioned teams, they made up for it with 43% first attack after a bad reception, so the Fužinar SIJ Metal Ravne players had no chance for a possible set, let alone anything more, scoring only 43 points in total.
Ključni statistični kazalci
štirinajstega kroga Sportklub prve odbojkarske lige za odbojkarje
The first place in the first part of the championship was won by ACH Volley Ljubljana, with only one set.
The Ljubljana team is not the least bit affected by the busy rhythm of two games a week and they are grinding it out in the national championship. The Kanal players, Alpacem Kanal volleyball players, are second in the rankings with a very lucky line-up, strengthened by the national team passer Dejan Vinčić. The Kanals, led by former national team blocker Gregor Jerončić, are certainly aiming for the national championship final, but there are certainly a few teams behind them in the rankings.
The matches in the blue group will decide who will face who in the quarter-finals. Calcit Volley, after a poor start to the season, showed the most convincing performance in the last meeting of the first part with Krka and moved up to an enviable third place in the standings. i-Vent Maribor is fourth and it seems that the Maribor players are more than satisfied with that and especially with their qualification to the final of the Slovenian Cup.
Krka fell a bit behind in the playoffs of the first part of the championship, but fifth place is definitely a good result. The Kranj team, Merkur Triglav Kranj, is sixth. After a great start, injuries have hampered the rejuvenated squad, so the Gorenjska team will probably be in shape for the knockout rounds, in which they have already been very good.
The last two places after the first part of the championship went to Panvita Pomgrad and Fužinar SIJ Metal Ravne, who will have to look for a place in the quarter-finals of the national championship in the meetings with the B-leaguers.
Osnovna lestvica Sportklub prva odbojkarska liga: odbojkarji modra skupina (24/25)
| Rank | Team | TOČK | ZMAGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 54 | 18 |
| 2 | | 48 | 17 |
| 3 | | 34 | 11 |
| 4 | | 30 | 10 |
| 5 | | 23 | 8 |
| 6 | | 16 | 5 |
As we have probably got used to by now, the action in Group B of the First National Volleyball League was much more interesting for the volleyball players. The biggest surprise was the live TV volleyball match between Črnuče and Šoštanj-Topolšica.
Črnučanov coach Miha Kikelj made a strategic decision to offer opportunities to second passer Val Verbič and second rebounder Nacet Prevorčnik, both 18 years old, in this encounter. Until the end of the first set, it looked like a more than convincing victory for the Montenegrins, who in the first set led by nine points, but the volleyball players of Šoštanj-Topolšice, with patient play, fought their way through the first set and then won the first set by a tie-breaker. The Montenegrins seemed to be able to pick themselves up in the second and third sets and find their rhythm of play again, which has graced them in the last couple of meetings. Despite the defeat, the Montenegrins won the second place and will play for a place in the quarter-finals in the green group.
The first place in the first B national league for volleyball players was very convincingly, but still somewhat surprisingly, won by Špan Brezovica volleyball players, who defeated SIP Šempeter in the last round in three sets. With only one defeat, the Brezovcians announced their fight for a place in the quarter-finals of the national championship in the green group, where the Šempeter players also qualified.
The newcomers in Group B of the First League, the volleyball players of Ljubljana Volley, played one more meeting in five sets and defeated the volleyball players of Kočevje, who, despite the defeat, won the third place and will also compete in the green group with the A-leaguers for a place in the quarter-finals.The first place was won by the volleyball team of Ljubljana Volley. This is a great success for the newcomers in the league.
Athos Kostanjevica also in the last round on home court failed to record a win, their neighbours from Žužemberk, the Kekoopreme Žužemberk volleyball team, eliminated them in three sets.
Črnuče : Šoštanj-Topolšica
  0 - 3Match Day Fourteen 1B
Maks Pečar Hall, Črnuče N/A Črnuče : Šoštanj-Topolšica |
Špan Brezovica : SIP Šempeter
  3 - 0Match Day Fourteen 1B
Balloon, Brezovica N/A Špan Brezovica : SIP Šempeter |
Ljubljana Volley : MOK Kočevje
  3 - 2Match Day Fourteen 1B
Bežigrad Gymnasium Sports Hall, Ljubljana N/A Ljubljana Volley : MOK Kočevje |
ATHOS Kostanjevica : KEKOOprema Žužemberk
  0 - 3Match Day Fourteen 1B
Sports hall of Jože Gorjup Elementary School in Kostanjevica na Krki N/A ATHOS Kostanjevica : KEKOOprema Žužemberk |
If we look at the key statistical indicators of the meetings between the B-League volleyball teams.
The statistics don’t tell us what the Črnuče volleyball players were thinking after they were already up by nine points in the first set of the meeting with Šoštanj-Topolšica, but lost it and then the next two sets. The two teams were evenly matched in the first attack after a good reception, with 43% for Šoštanj-Topolšica against 40% for Črnuče. In particular, the Črnuče volleyball players did not score enough points on their own serve, they allowed the opponent to play and then it was simply difficult to stop the volleyball players of Šoštanj-Topolšice.
Špan Brezovica dominated against SiP Šempeter, in A-League style, scoring 70% of the points after the service reception.
Ljubljana Volley showed in another drama that they deserved to be in the first league, but they will need more consistency to move up a step. The young volleyball players of Kočevje were parried in all key statistical elements, but the Kočevje players had the most problems in the changeover and in the first attack after a bad reception.
Ključni statistični kazalci
štirinajstega kroga prve državne odbojkarske lige za odbojkarje: B skupina
The top four teams in the First B National Volleyball League, Špan Brezovica, Črnuče, MOK Kočevje and SIP Šempeter, will compete in the green group with the A-League teams, Panvita Pomgrad and Fužinar SIJ Metal Ravne, for a place in the quarter-finals of the national championship.
The last four teams, Šoštanj Topolšica, Ljubljana Volley, KekoOprema Žužemberk and Athos Kostanjevica, will compete in the red group for the remainder in Group B of the First Volleyball League.
Osnovna lestvica 1B. DOL: odbojkarji rdeča skupina (24/25)
| Rank | Team | TOČK | ZMAGE | PORAZI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 19 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 | | 18 | 7 | 7 |
| 3 | | 11 | 4 | 10 |
| 4 | | 1 | 0 | 14 |
The first volleyball league continues on Saturday, 18 January, in the aforementioned blue, green and red groups.
You are welcome to join us both live on the volleyball.tv website and of course on the YouTube channel @tvodbojka. In the production of volleyball.tv, I have prepared for all volleyball fans a video noon showdown and commentary of the fourteenth round of the Volleyball First League, Marko Savić.