Last Saturday, the Lithuanian Student Cup tournament was held at the Savanorių Sports Arena in Vilnius, where students from higher education institutions competed – eight women’s and nine men’s teams.
This competition is a preparatory stage for the upcoming main event – the Lithuanian National Student Volleyball League (NSTL).
Our students, who played without the strongest players from the Kaunas-VDU team, won first place in a group of four teams – defeating Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) and Vilnius College (VIKO) with a score of 2:0 and tying 1:1 with the Lithuanian Sports University (LSU) – and earned the right to compete for the main prize in the final. After a fierce and tense battle, the VDU team, losing 1:2, had to acknowledge the superiority of the more experienced players from Vilnius University (VU).
Having won third place last year, this year the VMU women’s team climbed one step higher, receiving silver medals. The prize for the best player on the team went to Kamilė Zokaite (PMDF IV k.), while the team was mobilized by the selfless play of captain Vanesa Matulevič (ŠA SS IV k.).
The guys had a tougher time. They had to compete against more experienced students from other universities who were hardened by battles in Lithuania’s top league. Liutauras Macius (ŽŪA II mag.) and Ignas Brazionis (ŠA SS I k.), who are playing for the Alytus Ultra team this year, had such experience in our student team. These guys fought for every ball and every point. Unfortunately, their efforts alone were not enough. After stubborn resistance, four games were lost, so our team had to settle for eighth place.
Article prepared by coach Alfonsas Kazlauskas
