After six seasons on different sides of the net, Hermannova & Slukova unite

Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova started playing internationally about the same time in the late 2000s, but after competing against each other for six-plus seasons, the Czech Republic pair decided in August 2015 to join forces.

“We both wanted a partner change and felt we might be the best fit for each other,” said Slukova, who had previously teamed with Kristyna Kolocova to play in 62 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour events and earn a fifth-place finish at the London 2012 Olympic Games where both of their defeats were to American teams that placed 1-2 on the podium.

While Slukova and Kolocova were winning two World Tour events together during their 10 seasons together, Hermannova was competing with Martina Bonnerova Williams for six campaigns with an FIVB gold medal won at the end of 2014 season in South Africa.

“So, we wanted to give it a try,” Slukova added.  “At first, we needed to get used to each other and learn how to handle each other's personalities. Every season something new came up that we had to figure out - struggles, injuries, setbacks, even the big wins.”

In 51 FIVB and European Tour events since playing together for the first time at a World Tour event in the United States at Long Beach, where the pair failed to qualify for the Main Draw, Hermannova and Slukova have compiled a 164-83 match mark (66.4 winning percentage) to become the most successful international beach volleyball team from the Czech Republic.

“A big credit goes to our coach Simon Nausch,” said Hermannova. “He is the mastermind of this team. He always had a clear vision about how he wants us to play and what kind of game style two 180 cm tall players need to execute to be competitive at the highest level.”

With Nausch’s coaching, Hermannova and Slukova have won more World Tour medals than any other Czech Republic women’s or men’s team with four gold medals, seven appearances in finals, eight podium placements, nine final fours and 21 advancements to the quarterfinals.

Slukova lists a golden set over a Chinese pair at the FIVB Continental Cup in Sochi to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as one of her team’s “most memorable moments. Another is winning a gold medal together at the 2018 Vienna Major.”

“Losing 17-15 in the finals of the Tokyo Olympic qualifying event was heart-breaking,” said Slukova of another memorable moment of her partnership with Hermannova as the pair dropped a 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 17-15) decision in 54 minutes to Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in Haiyang, China.

As for the pair’s toughest opponents, Hermannova said “all the taller teams or teams with very tall blockers are quite challenging for smaller teams like us. We depend on strong service and precision, and if this is not running well and we can't compensate for it, taller teams can outplay us with their athleticism. For example, Alix and April from USA, the Swiss team Joanna and Anouk or Sarah and Mel from Canada.”

Hermannova and Slukova have a combined 4-10 match mark against the three teams by splitting four matches each with Klineman/Ross and Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré while being winless in six contests with Humana-Parades/Pavan.

Klineman and Ross have dropped their last two World Tour matches to Hermannova and Slukova at 2019 events in Austria and Italy, while Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré have been victorious in their last two meetings with the Czech Republic pair highlighted by a semifinal win at the 2020 European Championships in Latvia.

Of the six meetings with Humana-Parades and Pavan, Hermannova and Slukova have extended the Canadians to three sets three times that featured a 2-1 (32-34, 21-12, 15-6) in the 2017 gold medal match at the Porec Major in Croatia.

“The key against Mel and Sarah is that you do not let them play many second balls,” said Slukova. “Against the Americans and Swiss, you need to have a strong service game. Against all three teams, you need to have the set up to challenge their big blocks.”

As for handling the pandemic, Hermannova said “the layoff from the competition isn't ideal. We would love to compete more, but at the same time, the extra time for training is perfect for our team. Maki injured during the most crucial part of the 2019 season, and even when we managed to play the tournaments, it wasn't ideal. We got some valuable Olympic qualification results, but we often had to improvise, couldn't practise much, and as a team, we just didn't catch our rhythm. Now we have all the time we need and work in peace.”

As for the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, Slukova said “the layoff is good for us. We still needed to work on a few mental and physical aspects of our game to be in our best shape for the Olympics, and now we got that extra time to do so.”

Read more: Roster 100 to showcase stars of volleyball and beach volleyball

Quick links:
Roster 100
Volleyball World
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube