13/02/2019 22:30
Kuzbass comfortably secure ticket to #CEVCupM semis
2019 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men
Kemerovo, Russia, February 13, 2019. Kuzbass KEMEROVO needed only three sets to rout Ford Store Levoranta SASTAMALA (25-18, 25-17, 25-21) for the second time in as many matches and claim a spot in the semi-finals of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Cup – Men. Last week, Kuzbass had achieved the same result while playing the Finnish national champions on their home soil.
Tuomas Sammelvuo, head coach of Kuzbass: “We are going to the next stage and this is the most important thing. Moreover, I am glad that everyone had a chance to play today. Our game was confident and smooth but there were some moments where we made more mistakes than usual. We are glad we are going further. Now we are thinking about the game in Nizhnevartovsk as we know how they play at home and it is going to be a very hard and important game for us.”
Lauri Kerminen, Finnish libero of Kuzbass: “I am glad I could play such a good game against my friends. I think we won with the help of our serves and reception was very important as well. Tuomas made some substitutions during the third set and it is very important that everyone got to play today.”
Radovan Gacic, head coach of Ford Store Levoranta SASTAMALA: “At this moment we have difficulties with sickness and injuries, so I think we did the best we could deliver at this moment. Clearly, we could play better and do something more, but today I congratulate Kuzbass with qualifying for the semis and I think at the moment they were the better team.”
Mikko Esko, setter of Ford Store Levoranta SASTAMALA: “First of all, it was nice to play here, with such a great atmosphere, we really enjoyed it. We do not have this kind of opponents in our league in Finland and the level of Volleyball here against Kuzbass today and in Finland last week totally differs from our league and that is why it is hard for us - we are learning from this kind of games. I wish we could play more of this level of Volleyball because this is the only way to get better. We had some problems during this season and even today – our middle-blocker stayed at the hotel, but still with young guys we played a very good match and we fought from start to end. I think we did our best and it was a great experience also for our young players who performed for the first time in Russia – so they can see what the highest level in the game looks like.”
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