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Slovenia defeated hosts Bosnia & Herzegovina by 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-22) on Sunday in Zenica to finish women’s EuroVolley 2021 qualification Pool F on a high note. However, with both teams on a 3-3 win-loss records, it is Bosnia & Herzegovina that qualify for the finals as pool runners-up on set ratio.

The Bosnian blockers made the big difference in set one. Edina Selimovic alone stuffed four points and that was only half of the team’s blocking production during the set. Slovenia pushed back with some prolific spiking, but it was a successful hit by Dajana Boskovic that closed it off at 25-23 Bosnia & Herzegovina’s way. It was, however, the Slovenian blockers, led by Sasa Planinsec, that made the difference in the money time of a very tight second set and helped their team level the score after 25-22.

Riding the momentum, Slovenia started set three with a 5-0 run. Halfway through the set, their lead was gone and the home team had a small advantage, but only momentarily. Regaining control of the scoreboard, Slovenia held it up through the end as Eva Zatkovic delivered the 25-22 winner with an off-the-block spike. Bosnia & Herzegovina had the lead in the first half of the fourth set; then it was Slovenia’s turn as they reached the victory after yet another 25-22.

Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Dajana Boskovic was the top scorer of the match on 18 points, while her teammate Edina Selimovic impressed with eight kill blocks. Slovenia’s Sasa Planinsec piled up six stuffs towards a match total of 17 points and a well-deserved MVP award.

Alessandro Chiappini, head coach of Slovenia: “I am happy with this victory. It was amazing. Unfortunately, we did not manage to qualify for EuroVolley 2021, but I am proud of our performance in this match. Of course, I am a little sad that we lost 0-3 the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina at last week’s tournament in Latvia. I repeat, unfortunately, we will not play in the European Championship. We will try to learn for the future from what was good in this last qualifying match.”

Stevan Ljubičić, head coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina: “We had a great desire to finish this tournament in the best way. Maybe that was the reason why we played with more nervousness. However, you know that we have been playing for three days in a row and we have been playing two tournaments in almost in seven days, and fatigue has eventually manifested itself. We simply do not have that freshness anymore, so we needed much help from the bench, we tried everything we could, and in the end, the result is as it is. Of course, I am still proud of the girls for what they have accomplished.”