Novi Pazar - OK Partizan 3:1 (superliga, round 3)

I ran through the records of the game and I was saddened to see that Partizan’s former player Dušan Lopar plays in Novi Pazar now :(

Obviously there are reasons behind it. The problem is that I know nothing about the transfers of the volleyball league. It was by chance that I got to know about the start of this season at all. I can guess only about who does not play in Partizan anymore. Have I told how much I love the free flow of information?... (I surely haven’t, because such thing as "free flow of information" doesn’t exist here, God damn it.)

Okay.
Novi Pazar gave the game (and the first set) a tough start (7:4, 8:5), we could still equalize (10:10) with the points of Ristić and Turanjanin. We even took the lead, mostly by Novi Pazar’s mistakes, but volleyball is played for points, and at the end nobody cares how the team gained those points (especially if the team wins). We couldn’t be happy with the lead for too long, the home team equalized, they even took back the lead. We equalized again (17:17) thanks to the Veličković-Ristić duo. Novi Pazar again took the lead, it was surely a big struggle and a big fight. Turanjanin, Ristić and Buša will appear in the nightmares of Novi Pazar players... 24:24. Then 26:26. What is more, 26:27, Turanjanin blocks like the best firewall. Novi Pazar equalizes again. 27:27. Then 28:28. 28:29, again Turanjanin. What a game it could be... Novi Pazar again equalizes. 29:29. Buša scores, 29:30. Finally Polomac blocks, 29:31, monstre set with Partizan-victory.
The second set again started with Novi Pazar’s advantage (5:2, 6:5), we equalized again (7:7). Novi Pazar was ahead of us with only one step (11:10, 12:11), then Sretenović blocked and equalized (12:12). Ristić took the lead (12:13). And we kept our advantage! 13:16, 14:18, then Novi Pazar equalized, with clenched teeth, for sure. No problem, we took back the lead (18:20, 19:21). Novi Pazar equalized again and again, but they were always behind us. Then they took the lead (27:26) and it seems their nerves were a bit stronger at the end. They won this set to 28:26 and equalized.
For the third set we ran out of breath. After these two killer games it’s no wonder... 7:1, 8:2, 10:4, then we jumped to 12:9. Novi Pazar’s players probably also got tired for this point, they made more and more mistakes (that was also the reason why we reduced the difference to 3 points). The home team marched ahead, it was a smooth win for them. 25:18
We tried to keep ourselves at the beginning of the fourth set. 5:5, 5:6, 7:7, but somehow Novi Pazar could always make the best out of these draws. Around 14:10 we probably got completely exhausted. 20:11, 23:13, we gained a few points at the end, but in fact they were from the opponent’s mistakes.
Never mind.
Heroes.

Novi Pazar: Bekrić, S. Ristić (5), Hasan Zatrić, Lopar (14), Oković, Daca (6), Šormaz (3), Žuković (libero), Hamza Zatrić (2), Radosavljević (12), Simić, Hamzagić (29)
Head coach: Saša Stefanović

OK Partizan: Buša (12), Sretenović (2), Nedeljković (libero), Skakić, Batak, A. Ristić (16), Kovač, Dragović (2), Negić (libero), Veličković (7), Polomac (7), Turanjanin (10)
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

Current championship standings:
1. Vojvodina 9 points
2. Novi Pazar 9 points
3. CZ 8 points
4. Ribnica 6 points
5. Klek 3 points
6. Niš 3 points
7. Spartak Ljig 3 points
8. Partizan 2 points
9. Radnički Kragujevac 2 points
10. Jedinstvo 0 point

OK Partizan - Klek 3:2 (superliga, round 2)

We won over Klek with blood and sweat. The opponent had a very tough game and they won the first set to 21:25. We equalized in the second, thanks to Ristić, who had a fantastic performance (25:23). Klek won the third set with a big advantage (15:25) taking back the lead. But Partizan is Partizan, and not a bunch of whinies. We sped up and equalized again (25:20) led by Polomac.
Fifth set.
6:2 for us. Then 9:3. Steam roller time! But Klek was persistent enough to reduce it to 12:10.
But we have Boris Buša. And our Boris Buša won the game for us, for Partizan.
Well done, boys!

Posted by Odbojkaški Klub Partizan on Saturday, October 22, 2016

OK Partizan: Buša (22), Sretenović (4), Nedeljković (libero), Skakić, Batak (1), Ristić (17), Kovač (3), Dragović, Negić (libero), Veličković (16), Polomac (6), Turanjanin (11)
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

Klek: Tomić (14), Ateljević (8), Vujović, Grbić, Tanović (6), Narančić (17), Roljić (7), Đukanović, Petrović (libero), Providžalo (13), Petrović, Slavnić (libero)
Head coach: Đuro Dapčević

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 6 points
2. Novi Pazar 6 points
3. Vojvodina 6 points
4. Spartak Ljig 3 points
5. Partizan 2 points
6. Klek 2 points
7. Radnički Kragujevac 2 points
8. Jedinstvo Stara Pazova 0 point
9. Ribnica 0 point
10. Niš 0 point

OK Partizan - Klek 3:1 (superliga, round 17)

Less than minimal information available about the game: check.
Cursing and swearing heavily because of this: check.
Still attempting to write a blogpost: check.

That’s how it is.

Most important is that we won, though in the beginning it didn’t look like so. Klek won the first set to 18:25 and they were leading even in the second (7:8). Then we picked ourselves together and took the advantage around the middle of the set (16:11). The last stage of the second part was a parade made by us, we won it to 25:18.
The next set was easy, we won it without many difficulties (25:20), while in the last one we completely swept the guests off the court (25:16), keeping the game not longer than 84 minutes altogether. The Veličković- Popović-Polomac trio made an amazing job.

OK Partizan: Pantić (8), Nedeljković, Žugić, Lopar (11), Kostić (8), Tasić, Rajković (libero), Jokanović, Veličković (20), Polomac (10), Popović (16), Perišić
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

Klek: Tomić (13), Ateljević (6), Grče, Grbić, Tanović (6), Narančić (9), Roljić (8), Đukanović, Providžalo (6), Petrović, Slavnić (libero), Stašević (libero)
Head coach: Davor Čuk

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 48 points
2. Vojvodina 44 points
3. Novi Pazar 34 points
4. Niš 28 points
5. Partizan 28 points
6. Spartak Ljig 21 points
7. Radnički 18 points
8. Ribnica 18 points
9. Klek 15 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Crvena Zvezda - OK Partizan 3:1 (superliga, round 16)

It wasn’t funny.
I brought a lot of screenshots though.

Teams warm up

OK Partizan’s lineup

Introducing players

Group hug before the start

The first set was awful. We made all the possible mistakes. Zvezda was far ahead of us (15:10, 18:11, 22:12), we were mostly just assisting. It ended with 25:13, the result tells it all.
Some screenshots from the first part:

First timeout at 5:1

Receivers: Buša, Pantić and Lopar

Lopar doesn’t look happy (who would be, when the opponent leads with 8:3?...), Kostić is confused

Service: Lopar...

...Kostić...

...and Veličković

Our nervousness calmed down a bit for the second set. At 8:3 we made a fantastic series, we equalized (8:8). Zvezda tried to run away (12:8), but we worked off the difference and were constantly behind them with a step (12:11). The home team was leading for the entire set, but the difference was only a few points now and our game was more and more confident. Still Zvezda won the second part to 25:20.
Images:

Polomac getting ready for service

Earning a point

Head coach Vladimir Vasović

Battle

Dimitrije Pantić

Receivers before a service

For the third set things started to work suddenly. At the beginning we were behind them with only 1-2 points (5:4, 6:5, 7:6), then we equalized (11:11).
Then we took the lead, for the first time during the match! (12:13)
To celebrate it Popović scored a giant ace, so big that Zvezda-players had to take a few deep breaths before continuing. (12:14)
They couldn’t take back the lead for the rest of the set. Sometimes they equalized, but that didn’t last long. It was close, but we kept ourselves. We won the set to 23:25.
Images:

Polomac is about to serve

Receivers

Rajković, the best libero

Ivan Kostić

Nemanja Jokanović serves

In the last set something blew out. We got too tired or the pressure was too big. Sometimes we equalized, once we took the lead (12:14), but Zvezda equalized (15:15) and from then on they kept all in control. The fourth part ended with 25:19.
Images:

Vladimir Vasović trying to shake up the boys

It’s our turn

 Boris Buša

High five

Cleaning staff

End of the game, handshakes

Crvena Zvezda: Okolić, Jevtić (libero), Skrbić, Gmitrović, Stavlić, Milutinović (9), Jakovljević (12), Stoisavljević (11), Munćan (7), Blagojević (24), Veljović, Buculjević (3)
Head coach: Dragan Kobiljski

OK Partizan: Buša (15), Pantić (15), Nedeljković, Žugić, Lopar (7), Kostić (2), Rajković (libero), Jokanović, Veličković (5), Polomac (7), Popović (3), Perišić
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

League table will be brought later.

OK Partizan - Radnički 3:1 (superliga, round 15)

The most important must be announced before I start to write this match report. The MVP of the 14th round is OK Partizan’s youth national team member Aleksa Polomac!

(photo: zurnal.rs)

We started with struggling, the Kragujevac-based team jumped to 0:4. They were leading for almost the entire first part, once we could equalize (17:17). At this point it seemed that despite the guests’ advantage we can still win the set, but Radnički was eventually stronger, it ended with 23:25.
The second part was even more close. At first we were leading (8:7), but Radnički didn’t let us even breathe. We switched the standing from 15:16 to 19:16, and we won it, thanks to Pantić’s fantastic performance. The second part ended with 25:23, we equalized.
The third set was about Ivan Kostić. He organized attacks, when needed, or blocked, served, threw aces. It was smooth (25:19). We were leading.
The last part of the game was again very close. What is more, it was Kragujevac that reached the level of game ball first (23:24). It seemed twice in a row that they would win the set, but finally we gained match ball after a heavy fight as well as the victory.


OK Partizan: Buša (16), Pantić (21), Lopar (10),  Kostić (8), Veličković (19), Polomac (7), Rajković (libero), Nedeljković, Jokanović, Perišić, Žugić, Tasić
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

Radnički: Borovićanin (8), Goić (9), Martinović (5), Vulović (15), Ilić (17), Rajković (2), Pantović (libero), Petrović, Ivanović, Kovač, Kočanović (5), Pavlović
Head coach: Predrag Srećković

League table is coming soon, the last game of the round is played right now.
Update: current championship standings
1. CZ 42 points
2. Vojvodina 39 points
3. Novi Pazar 30 points
4. Niš 25 points
5. Partizan 23 points
6. Spartak Ljig 18 points
7. Ribnica 18 points
8. Radnički 15 points
9. Klek 14 points
10. Inđija 1 point

OK Partizan - Niš 3:0 (superliga, round 14)

This was a well-earned win, and the fact that Niš is ahead of us on the league table makes it even more precious.
Partizan practically jumped on Niš, grabbed them at their throat and didn’t let them go. Polomac did an especially great job, he is said to have an excellent performance. We won the first set to 25:20.
The second set was much closer, but even that was because we made quite a few mistakes.

You get it. The boys didn’t want the game to get too boring. They made it to be more exciting. All for the fans...

We still won it to 27:25.
The third part was a victorious march. We jumped to 8:3 in the beginning and we didn’t allow the guests any closer than 3 points (16:13) even later. We won this last set to 25:21 and earned another victory.

Aleksa Polomac

(photo: zurnal.rs)

OK Partizan: Buša (11), Pantić (15), Žugić, Kostić (3), Mulćan, Tasić, Rajković (libero), Jokanović, Veličković (9), Polomac (15), Popović, Perišić (6)
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

Niš: Pejčić, Kuburović (4), Perović (7), Jelić, Stamenković, Stojković (6), Kostadinović (libero), Pržić (9), Mijalković, Opačić (11), Ilić, Jović (libero)
Head coach: Saša Stefanović

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 39 points
2. Vojvodina 36 points
3. Novi Pazar 27 points
4. Niš 23 points
5. Partizan 22 points
6. Spartak Ljig 18 points
7. Radnički 15 points
8. Klek 15 points
9. Ribnica 14 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Ribnica - OK Partizan 1:3 (superliga, round 13)

There could be a great battle in the Kraljevo sports hall. We won with a very close fight, the two teams were surely strangling each other by the throat.
The first set was won by the home team to 25:22, and based on the image of the game it very much seemed so that they will won the match itself as well. But Partizan picked themselves together for the second set, while the official match report adds that there was a big number of Grave Diggers in the sports hall cheering and supporting the team loud for the entire game. We won the second part to 20:25, we equalized.
Then the team sped up. Veličković, Buša, Pantić and Polomac turned themselves into Transformers (or they have some secret Jedi power) and we won the third part to 23:25. We finished the decisive fourth game with the same result. Sportski Žurnal mentions this match as a life-saving victory for Partizan - with this 1:3 we are now on the 5th place of the league table, as of now. (There are 3 more games left from this round.)

(photo: zurnal.rs)

Ribnica: Ilić (7), Pavlović (1), Seizović, Okošanović (28), Marković, Adamović (7), Usiljanin (14), Močić (libero), Vilimanović (1), Strahinja Milovanović, Slobodan Milovanović (6), Paunović
Head coach: Boško Mačužić

OK Partizan: Buša (18), Pantić (10), Nedeljković, Žugić, Lopar (7), Kostić (3), Rajković (libero), Jokanović (1), Veličković (22), Polomac (10), Popović, Perišić
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

League table will be brought later.
Update: current championship standings
1. CZ 36 points
2. Vojvodina 33 points
3. Niš 24 points
4. Novi Pazar 23 points
5. Partizan 19 points
6. Spartak Ljig 15 points
7. Radnički 15 points
8. Klek 15 points
9. Ribnica 14 points
10. Inđija 1 point

OK Partizan - Novi Pazar 1:3 (superliga, round 12)

It was a relatively easy win for Novi Pazar against our volleyball team. They kept the game under their control, winning the first set to 22:25 and the second to 16:25. Partizan could show a more powerful, more collected game only in the third part, we won it to 25:21. We could keep the pace even in the fourth, leading to 8:6 in the beginning. We were behind the guests with only 1 point in the middle (15:16), but at the end Novi Pazar was too strong. They won the last set to 21:25, eventually winning the match to 1:3.

High five to Sportski žurnal for publishing their short report just a few hours after the game.

OK Partizan: Buša (10), Pantić (7), Nedeljković, Žugić, Lopar (11), Kostić (4), Tasić, Rajković (libero), Jokanović, Veličković (15), Polomac (7), Perišić
Vezetőedző: Vladimir Vasović

Novi Pazar: Zoranić, Novoselac (3), R. Stevanović (15), Delić, Daca (8), N. Stevanović (19), Radović (20), Božović, Brzaković (1), Zatrić (7), Bulatović, Kapur (libero)
Vezetőedző: Milan Gršić

League table comes later.

Update: current championship standings
1. CZ 33 points
2. Vojvodina 30 points
3. Novi Pazar 24 points
4. Niš 20 points
5. Partizan 16 points
6. Spartak Ljig 15 points
7. Radnički 15 points
8. Ribnica 15 points
9. Klek 11 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Inđija - OK Partizan 0:3 (superliga, round 11)

This game was played yesterday.
I heard about it for the first time on Friday only.

I'm not even surprised anymore that there is such a big silence about the volleyball league in the media. The volleyball association seems to give no shit at all. Their home page is a catastrophe, they report games only in an "in brief"-style. No photos about the games and even their Youtube-channel hasn't been refreshed since last year (they had at least match highlights then). They are not present on any social media either. 
In 2016. In the 21st century.
Professionalism, my a...

Only minimal information is available. Most important is that Partizan won easily against Inđija. We were leading for the whole time, winning the first part to 21:25, the second to 14:25 and the third to 16:25.

Inđija: Lalić (10), Sretenović (1), Pešut (8), U. Grković (libero), A. Grković (4), Čolović, Andrić, Mićić (8), Stević, Kovačević (4)
Head coach: Vladimir Šarenac

OK Partizan: Buša (17), Pantić (12), Nedeljković, Žugić, Lopar (7), Kostić (1), Rajković (libero), Jokanović (1), Veličković (13), Polomac (5), Popović, Perišić
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 30 points
2. Vojvodina 27 points
3. Niš 20 points
4. Novi Pazar 21 points
5. Partizan 16 points
6. Spartak Ljig 15 points
7. Radnički 12 points
8. Ribnica 12 points
9. Klek 11 points
10. Inđija 1 point

OK Partizan - Vojvodina 0:3 (superliga, round 10)

This is when I get a total frontal brain haemorrhage, when I get to know BELATED, that the match, which was supposed to be played on Saturday, was in fact played back on Wednesday, without any notice. Nobody ever mentioned it at anywhere - well, nobody mentioned either that the championship continues this week after the winter break. This pisses me off every single time, this attitude that is clearly the leftover of communism, this "who cares"/"whatever" way of thinking. For fuck’s sake, be more professional, just a bit!... Move your asses, everybody, from the volleyball association through the clubs to the media, because if you keep this up, then don’t get surprised that the best players will leave abroad faster than you can blink.

After this no wonder that there were only 50 (!!!) people on the stands at this match. This will surely be the most wonderful (NOT) season beginning in the volleyball team’s history. Many greetings to all those in charge who made it real.
Partizan appeared practically with their youth team against Vojvodina, but still they kept themselves hard and solid. We were leading in the first set to 17:13. Vojvodina equalized (17:17) and though we took back the lead (19:18), the guests made a 0:4 series (19:22). Finally Nikolić took the Novi Sad team on his back and they won the first part to 23:25.
The second part was even tougher. Vojvodina sped up, first they made it to 7:11, then to 9:14, but Partizan didn’t give up. We reduced the difference to only 1 point (21:22), but Vojvodina eventually won this set, too (22:25).
In the beginning of the third part Vojvodina was leading (7:8), but we switched the standing. First it was 13:10, then 16:14. Vojvodina equalized (19:19), but Polomac hit a giant ace (20:19). Just the guests switched the standing back with Simić’s two points (20:21) and from then on they didn’t let control out of their hands. They won the last set to 23:25.

(photo: zurnal.rs)

OK Partizan: Buša (17), Pantić (9), Nedeljković, Žugić, Lopar (10), Kostić, Rajković (libero), Jokanović, Veličković (6), Polomac (5), Popović, Perišić
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović

Vojvodina: Simić (4), Nikolić (8), Stanković (5), Petrović, Vemić (9), Premović, Jovanović (1), Kujundžić, Peković (libero), Mehić (2), Radović (2), Minić (19)
Head coach: Strahinja Kozić

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 27 points
2. Vojvodina 27 points
3. Novi Pazar 21 points
4. Niš 17 points
5. Partizan 13 points
6. Radnički 12 points
7. Spartak Ljig 12 points
8. Klek 11 points
9. Ribnica 9 points
10. Inđija 1 point

OK Partizan - Spartak Ljig 3:0 (superliga, round 9)

It was an easy, smooth game without much excitement against the Ljig-based team. Well, all right, at the end there was some excitement, because the guests were leading to 5:8 at the beginning of the first set, but later it was gone. They still kept themselves during the first part, the standing was still narrow in the middle of the set (16:15), even at the end the difference was only 3 points (21:18), but we still won to 25:20.
The second set was smoother. The difference was growing, first it was 8:5, then 16:13, finally, at the end we were leading to 21:16. The always bigger Partizan-pressure got to be a too heavy weight for Spartak, the second part ended with 25:19.
At the end it was like a festival. The Buša-Veličković-Pantić axis sped up, they scored one point after the other. We made it to 16:10, then to 21:12. Spartak collapsed. The end was all fireworks, we won the set to 25:13 as well as the match to 3:0.
The heroes of the day are Boris Buša and Luka Veličković, they both scored 16-16 points. They are followed by Dimitrije Pantić (12), Dušan Lopar (9), Ivan Kostić (6) and Aleksa Polomac (5).
This time there are photos, too.

Standing with his back to the viewer, wearing #1 shirt it's Boris Buša, behind him (#5) Lopar. At the net with #15 it’s Polomac, while at the back of the photo, wearing white shirt it’s Bojan Rajkovć, everyone’s favourite libero

Group hug at the end

(photos: Facebook/Odbojkaški Klub Partizan)

League table will be brought later.
Update: current championship standings
1. CZ 24 points
2. Vojvodina 24 points
3. Novi Pazar 19 points
4. Niš 14 points
5. Partizan 13 points
6. Spartak Ljig 12 points
7. Radnički 11 points
8. Klek 9 points
9. Ribnica 8 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Klek - OK Partizan 0:3 (superliga, round 8)

We needed this victory as badly as the starving needs a piece of bred. Our position on the league table was more than terrible. Partizan's volleyball team headed to this game standing on the 8th place of the table, with only 2 points ahead of Ribnica.

League table before Partizan's match against Klek

(source: flashscore.com)

Reports talk about very lucky spectators who gathered at the sports hall of Miloš Grbić Elementary School in Klek, because they could see a very exciting, great game. In the first set Klek was leading to 19:18, then Partizan switched the standing to 19:23 (!!!). Klek picked themselves together and reduced the difference to 22:24, but finally we won it to 23:25.
The second set was more or less the same, it brought again a great fight for the last minutes. The two teams had a nip-and-tuck battle, they didn’t stop until 26:28.
For the last part Klek ran out of power. The Veličković-Pantić-Buša trio took the team on their back and we won the third set to 13:25 as well as the match to 0:3.
The hero of the day is Luka Veličković with 14 points. He is followed by Dimitrije Pantić and Boris Buša (12-12) - Boris Buša scored 4 aces! -, Dušan Lopar (11), Aleksa Polomac (9) and Ivan Kostić (5).

I stole this photo about Boris Buša, because you just have to steal one, it’s amazing that absolutely no news sites are willing to publish any image about the volleyball team or just care about volleyball at all.

(photo: uokpl.rs)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 21 points
2. Vojvodina 21 points
3. Novi Pazar 16 points
4. Niš 14 points
5. Spartak Ljig 12 points
6. Radnički 11 points
7. Partizan 10 points
8. Klek 9 points
9. Ribnica 5 points
10. Inđija 1 point

OK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 0:3 (superliga, round 7)

The next smash in the face was received by the volleyball team. They clashed with the eternal rivals, and the neighbouring team had an overly confident victory against us. It barely took more than an hour.
For the first set the neighbours were leading with 4-5 points for the whole time (4:8, 12:16, 16:21). They won it to 18:25. (The official report says that Partizan had a lot of mistakes, red team took advantage of them.) The second set was more narrow. Red team was leading even then, too, but only with 1-2 points. They could still win it to 23:25.
The last game was similar to the second. It was narrow with only one or two points of difference, but even here the opponent was leading for the whole time. They won it to 23:25, eventually winning the match to 0:3.
The hero of the day is Dimitrije Pantić with 13 points. He is followed by Dušan Lopar (10), Luka Veličković and Boris Buša (9-9), Aleksa Polomac (4) as well as Marko Popović (3).

(photo: zurnal.rs)

League table comes later.

Update: current championship standings
1. Vojvodina 18 points
2. CZ 15 points*
3. Novi Pazar 13 points*
4. Spartak Ljig 12 points
5. Niš 11 points
6. Radnički 11 points
7. Klek 9 points
8. Partizan 7 points
9. Ribnica 5 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Teams marked with * played only 6 matches so far.

Radnički Kragujevac - OK Partizan 3:1 (superliga, round 6)

Yesterday there were two more games Partizan-teams took part at. The volleyball team travelled to Kragujevac to clash with Radnički.
Well... why should we try to attenuate it? We had a nasty defeat.
All looked smooth at the start. We won the first set to 16:25. It all seemed to be easy, maybe Veličković and Lopar even told each other jokes while rotation.
Then something surely happened, because Radnički sped up unbelievably for the second set - so much that they won it to 25:9 (!!!). (They made it to 8:2 even in the beginning, with black magic maybe...)
For the third part head coach Vladimir Vasović calmed down the upheaval in the heads. Kragujevac was still leading for the entire set (most probably), but the result was more narrow than the previous. The home team won it to 27:25, leading to 2:1 at this point, but hope was still not lost.
The problem was that Kragujevac mercilessly won the fourth (and last) set as well. It ended with 25:19, and with this Radnički won the game to 3:1.
The hero of the day was Luka Veličković with 11 points. He is followed by Aleksa Polomac (9), Boris Buša and Marko Popović (8-8), Dušan Lopar (7), Dimitrije Pantić and Vukasin Nedeljković (3-3) as well as Ivan Kostić (2).

Current championship standings:
1. Vojvodina 15 points
2. Novi Pazar 13 points*
3. CZ 12 points*
4. Niš 9 points
5. Spartak Ljig 9 points
6. Klek 8 points
7. Radnički 8 points
8. Partizan 7 points
9. Ribnica 5 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Teams marked with * played only 5 games up to now.

Niš - OK Partizan 3:2 (superliga, round 5)

Isn’t it a fantastic feeling to get to know about a match that was played the day before. May the sky fall onto the entire lazy sports media for giving absolutely no damn on the volleyball superliga (among others).
In the first part we made a fantastic resurrection. The home team was leading to 16:9, finally we switched the standing and won to 25:27. In the second part the home team was leading constantly, always with 2-3 points, eventually winning it to 25:20, equalizing the standing to 1:1. Then came the third part, it was uncertain for the whole time who would win it. Finally we did, with blood and sweat, to 23:25, taking back the lead. For the fourth set (as reports say) Partizan started to get exhausted a bit. The home team kept on blocking all our attempts, which helped them winning it to 25:18. They equalized, so the decision about who’d win was left for the last game.
This last part was the drama of dramas as the official report says. There were 70 (!) fouls and mistakes counted, finally Niš won to 20:18, eventually winning the match itself after more than three and a half hours of battle.
The hero of the day was again Dimitrije Pantić with 20 points. He is followed by Boris Buša and Luka Veličković (15-15), Dušan Lopar (10) and Aleksa Polomac (8).

League table will be brought later.

Update: current championship standings
1. Vojvodina 12 points
2. Novi Pazar 10 points*
3. Niš 9 points
4. CZ 9 points*
5. Spartak Ljig 9 points
6. Klek 8 points
7. Partizan 7 points
8. Radnički 5 points
9. Ribnica 2 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Teams marked with * have played only 4 matches so far.

OK Partizan - Ribnica 3:0 (superliga, round 4)

RTS 2 was supposed to broadcast this game.

I didn't know about it, because it wasn't mentioned at anywhere. The info crossed me out of the blue.

Eventually they didn't broadcast. Even the live score didn't work at the superliga's home page until the middle of the second set. (At least sofascore.com did.)
The available information is again minimal, the most important is that we took the lead in the first part and didn't let it out of our hands for the whole time. The difference was not that big, but we kept on leading confidently, winning the first game to 25:22.
The second set was a bit more narrow, the difference was only 1-2 points, guests tried to grab our throat, but we were still leading, ending the middle part with 25:23.
The third one was a bit more tough, either we started to get tired or Ribnice sped up for the end, nevertheless in the beginning they took the lead and could keep it until 9:9. At that point we mobilized our restored energies, turned on the Parni valjak, took back the lead and with great fight we won the last part to 25:22.
The two heroes of the day are Boris Buša and Dimitrije Pantić, both scoring 14 points. They are followed by Luka Veličković (13 points), Dušan Lopar (9 points), Aleksa Polomac (6 points) as well as Ivan Kostić and Nemanja Jokanović (1-1 point).

There’s no photo or video footage about the game, because no sports page takes the trouble to publish volleyball superliga reports. Also Wienerliga (the official name of the superliga) has been too lazy, because they haven’t published any photos since forever to their site, and lately they haven’t even uploaded video highlights on Youtube. Even these photos are from the home page of the Serbian volleyball association.

Aleksa Polomac

Boris Buša

(photos: ossrb.org)

League table will be brought later, on Sunday.

Update: current championship standings
1. Vojvodina 9 points
2. Klek 8 points
3. Niš 7 points
4. Novi Pazar 7 points*
5. CZ 6 points*
6. Spartak Ljig 6 points
7. Partizan 6 points
8. Radnički 5 points
9. Ribnica 2 points
10. Inđija 1 point

OK Partizan - Inđija 3:1 (superliga, round 2)

In the second round of the volleyball superliga Partizan welcomed Inđija and won over them in a very narrow match that brought nip-and-tuck fight.
We won the first game to 27:25, but the standing constantly kept on changing, once with us on the lead, then with the guests. At first they were leading to 7:8, not allowing us to grab the lead for a longer time. Inđija was still leading to 15:16, and the standing was so open that nobody could predict who’d win. Finally we took the lead (21:20) and won the set with hard fight.
The second part was the same tough, with the same, always-changing standing, being absolutely open until the end. It was 20:21 when we heated up the Parni valjak and won the set to 25:23 with blood and sweat.

It’s not easy now, a lot of players left the team. Last year’s ace scorer Milija Mrdak has gone as well as the two Nikolić’s, Marko and Petar. The current name list is full of new players.

In the third set Inđija sped up. They grabbed our throat, used black magic, bewitched us and left us behind to 8:16. It didn’t become any easier even later, they kept themselves to 13:21, finally winning it to 18:25.
For the final part we warmed up our reserve energies, so did the opponent. Very narrow battle, one point here, one point there, nerves in pieces. We had a 21:16 advantage, but Inđija reduced it to 21:20 and it was so narrow that we could feel their blood-thirsty breath on the back of our neck. Finally at 24:23 we had the match ball, made it to 25:23 and won the 3 points.
The hero of the day is Luka Veličković with 18 points, followed by Dušan Lopar with 16 points. Marko Popović scored 15 points, Dimitrije Pantić made 14. They are followed by Aleksa Polomac (7), Ivan Kostić (5), Boris Buša, Vukasin Nedeljković and Nemanja Jokanović (1-1).
If there’s any photo or video about the game, I’ll update the post.

Luka Veličković, the hero

(photo: cev.lu)

Current championship standings:
1. Klek Srbijašume 5 points
2. Niš 4 points
3. Novi Pazar 4 points
4. Spartak Ljig 3 points
5. CZ 3 points
6. Vojvodina 3 points
7. Radnički 3 points
8. Partizan 3 point
9. Inđija 1 point
10. Ribnica 1 point