23/10/2013 15:19
NIZHNIY NOVGOROD wins first European Cup match in club’s history
2014 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men
Zalau, Romania, October 23, 2013. Guberniya NIZHNIY NOVGOROD scored its first victory in the 2014 CEV Volleyball Cup, after defeating in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, and 25-18) Volei Municipal ZALAU on Tuesday.
A few hundreds of Romanian fans supported their team at the local sports hall in Zalau creating an extraordinary atmosphere. Despite the fact that their favourite team lost, the supporters enjoyed every moment of the match. Both teams delighted the crowd with some powerful attacks and a few long rallies, putting a lot of effort to take the lead.
However, the Russian team seemed more concentrated in the crucial moments of the match, taking back the lead after eyeing the vulnerable side of their opponents.
Plamen Konstantinov, the head coach of the Russians, stated after the match: “Winning this match was very important for us, as it was our first game in the European Cups, so the first participation in our club’s history in the CEV Volleyball Cup. I must admit both teams were very determined to win and the first two sets showed that ZALAU has great players and a very good coach. We must be very careful during the other match with Volei Municipal ZALAU because we really want to score another win and qualify to the next round of the competition. We know that ZALAU will fight for each point during their away match, as well.”
Mikko Esko, NIZHNIY NOVGOROD’s setter, admitted that the win wasn’t an easy goal, as the local team “played aggressively in attack and put us in some difficult situations. We don’t think that the other match with ZALAU will be easier only because now we have an idea about their strategy. Therefore we should be more focused on our target.”
“Unfortunately we couldn’t have a better result as our strong opponents showed they are very good in all aspects of the game” said Aurel Vlaicu, head coach of ZALAU. “Of course it was a good match, but for the moment this is our current level, which we will try to improve and achieve a better result during the away match” he added.
Adriano Lamb, the captain of Volei Municipal ZALAU, also pointed out the fact that the first match with the Russian team “was a good one, but at the same time, a difficult one. We met a very strong opponent, as we expected. I also believe that the away match will definitely be more difficult, but we will fight to deliver a good performance and even to win the match.”
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