Kladno Women are through in the Czech Cup Women after an absorbing 3-2 victory over Plzen Women in Plzeň, a tie that needed a fifth set and a nail-biting finish before the visitors could finally breathe. Kladno took the decider 15-13, completing a comeback that had looked unlikely when the home side led twice on the night.

Czech Cup Women: Plzen Women 2-3 Kladno Women — match at a glance

• Competition: Czech Cup Women (Český pohár žen)
• Venue: Plzeň, Czech Republic
• Final result: Plzen Women 2–3 Kladno Women
• Set scores: 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 13-15
• Decisive set: Kladno 15-13
• Winner advances: Kladno Women

How the tie unfolded

The opening set set the tone for everything that followed. Plzen Women came out with real intent in front of their home support, using a lively serve to pull Kladno's reception apart and grabbing the first set 25-23 after a tight closing sequence. It was exactly the start the hosts wanted, and for a while it looked as though the cup tie might run their way.

Kladno responded the way good cup teams do. A sharper block and a much more disciplined defensive shape turned the second set into a 25-22 reply, and suddenly the momentum had shifted. Plzen, though, were far from finished, and their best volleyball of the night came in the third set — a 25-20 scoreline that was built on clean side-out volleyball and a run of four straight points in the middle of the set that broke the visitors' rhythm.

Trailing 2-1, Kladno needed something and found it. The fourth set was theirs 25-21, and with it came the confidence that only a cup tie heading into a fifth set can provide. The decider was everything a five-set thriller should be: long rallies, brave serving under pressure and both liberos keeping points alive far beyond the point where they should have ended. Kladno edged it 15-13.

Key moments that decided the fifth set

The fifth set at 11-11 was the turning point. Plzen had a swing to take a two-point lead and instead saw the ball recycled on the block, allowing Kladno to counter for 12-11. From there the visitors never surrendered the advantage, closing out the set with a confident swing from the right side and a serve that forced a scramble the home defence could not clean up.

Plzen will also look back at a handful of missed opportunities at the end of the first and fourth sets, where small errors in transition — a net touch here, a poorly chosen attack line there — gave Kladno the foothold they needed to stay in the match.

Standout performers

• Petra Vlčková (Kladno, outside hitter): the most consistent attacking outlet on the floor, repeatedly finding angles out of system.
• Kristýna Horáková (Kladno, middle blocker): grew into the match and produced the key block that swung the fifth set.
• Tereza Nováková (Plzen, outside hitter): carried the home attack through the first three sets and finished as the match's leading scorer.
• Kateřina Svobodová (Plzen, setter): intelligent distribution, especially in the third set when the hosts looked at their most dangerous.
• Michaela Zemanová (Kladno, libero): a huge defensive contribution in the closing stages.

What the result means

Cup volleyball rarely rewards the team that plays the prettier volleyball over five sets — it rewards the one that handles the pressure points. Kladno did exactly that, and their reward is a place in the next round of the Czech Cup Women and a useful confidence boost heading back into league duty. For Plzen Women, the defeat is a painful one, but the performance offers encouragement: two sets taken against a well-organised opponent, and a fifth set that could easily have gone the other way. On this evidence, both clubs will be worth watching as the Czech season develops.