Matej Smidl celebrates Czechia's first win at the U21 World Championship
Brno, Czech Republic, June 25, 2017 –
Matej Smidl was
Czech Republic’s top warrior as the home team managed to please the crowd in Brno with their first victory at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship. The 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-18) win against
Morocco is also the Czechs’ last at the DRFG Arena as the squad will now move to Ceske Budejovice as the third-placed team in Pool A to chase the ninth place in the tournament standings.
Smidl was the best scorer of the match with 15 points.
Donovan Dzavoronok added 13 to Czechia’s tally, including four aces, while sub-in
Soufiane El Gharrouti’s nine points made him Morocco’s most prolific player.
With four aces and a total of 10 points in the first set, Dzavoronok completely destroyed any resistance from the Moroccan side and brought Czechia to a 25-16 win. The home team’s captain and setter
Kristian Cervinka added variety to the Czech spiking efforts in the second set en route to a 25-21 close. Without Dzavoronok on the court for the start of the third set, Smidl took the leading role in the team’s offence and scored eight times, as Czechia claimed the straight-set victory with a 25-18 win in the set.