In both sets, 17-year-old Oliva and 20-year-old Trousil led and lost by a narrow difference over the highest pair of qualifiers. “A lifelong experience,” Kryštof Jan Oliva smirked. He scored twelve points against the Australians and scored one ace. “It was great. Now we will cheer and keep our fingers crossed for the other Czechs,” Oliva added.
“The Australians did not play at their best, they were probably tired of the tournament in Turkey, where they reached the finals and I guess they flew to Ostrava only yesterday. Unfortunately, we did not use it. We made a few mistakes during the set and at the end we argued a bit in defense. But we are playing together for the first time, so that’s a great result. We don’t have to be ashamed of him, “Tadeáš Trousil smiled.
The Czech youngsters played in such a quality tournament for the first time. They were put together by the Czech Volleyball Association as possible followers of the current Czech leaders Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner, with whom they also train. Like the current Czech duo Jakub Šépka and Tomáš Semerád.
“We are preparing under their coaches, including fitness, and the highlight should be the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. I think we sat down. But we still have a place to move, the quality of our opponents is huge, “Trousil revealed his plans.
The first tournament has already shown that this path can lead in the right direction. “It’s worth it, the match against the Australians was close also because we have the opportunity to train with Perušič and Schweiner and their coach Andrea Tomatis. We wouldn’t get that far without them. And who knows if we would play together at all, “Oliva mused.
