The Balkan Volleyball Association

Tirana, Albania, April 21, 2011. The girls of Minatori celebrated something special tonight in

their hometown, Rrëshen, a small city located in northern Albania, as they claimed the national

league for the first time in history.

Girls of Minatori, 2010/2011 Albanian National League Champions

The team around head coach Adrian Gorenxa was really on a class of their own, as they needed only

three games to put an end to the Championship series against Tirana, opening with a 3:0 home

victory, before scoring a 3:1 in Albania’s capital city and finish their job tonight in front of their

audience with another straight-set win.

Minatori did not lose any single match – out of 27 – in this year’s national league: after topping the

standings of the regular season, the girls did not slow their pace also in the so-called “Top Volley

Liga” where they once again finished on top before the start of the Playoffs, to claim also the right to

have more games enjoying the home advantage.

Minatori opened the Championship series with a stellar performance to seal a 3:0 in a game where

Tirana was able to stay tuned only for one set and a half (25-22, 25-19, 25-7). Minatori slightly got

into trouble in the second game, where they conceded one set to their opponents to finally win 3:1

(25-12, 22-25, 25-14, 25-18). The third and last game was quite an easy task for Minatori (3:0, 25-17,

25-16, 25-11) that basically found no resistance from Tirana.

The captain of Minatori, Esmeralda Tuci, who had returned to play there this season after spending

some years in Tirana, received the trophy directly from the Secretary General of the Albanian

Volleyball Federation, Mr. Leonard Tase. Kleida Shkurti was voted MVP of the final. Coach Adrian

Gorenxa, who in the past had mentored Tirana, was really excited: “This is a kind of miracle for

such a small city, as we brought here a cup that everyone had always dreamed of. My gratitude goes

to the girls as well as to the President of our club and all the people that have been supporting us”.

The euphoria in Rrëshen – a small city with a population of about 9,000 – was overwhelming as

Minatori claimed the title for the first time in 36 years since the league was established. The

celebrations across the streets are expected to continue until the morning.

Text and photos obtained from CEV official webpage