Luxembourg, February 27, 2019. Belogorie BELGOROD (RUS) started off good their semi-final campaign of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Men after outclassing Stade Poitevin POITIERS 3-0. In a match that lasted only 71 minutes, the players headed by Slobodan Kovač showed great determination to seize the victory, not allowing their opponents to take the initiative. Only in the second set the French team would breath down Belogorie’s necks – but the players from Belgorod did not disappoint their fans in Sports Palace Cosmos. In the other semi-final match SC Portugal LISBOA did a miracle winning a great match at 3-2 vs. Vero Volley MONZA. The visitors were two sets down, but could find the strength to get back in the game and even win it, which means they are now one step closer to the #CEVChallengeCupM finals.
Belogorie BELGOROD (RUS) vs Stade Poitevin POITIERS (FRA) 3-0 (25-11, 25-23, 25-17)
• The first set went quite easy for the Russian team and with not so many efforts, they emerged victorious at 25-11. The Russian side controlled the rhythm of the game, while their opponents were struggling on finding a response.
• Things changed just a little bit in the end of the second set – although Belogorie were leading until 17th point, Stade Poitevin were slowly starting to speed up to eventually tie the game. However, the players around Kovač could resist and closed also the second set in their favour.
• Belogorie were leading in the third set as well, maintaining a small three-point difference until the 9th point. In these moments, Stade Poitevin POITIERS tried to put the hosts under pressure, but the Russian team didn’t allow any big surprises and closed the match at 3-0.
• John Gordon Perrin from Belogorie BELGOROD scored 12 points while Denis Zemchenok helped with 11 for the Russians’ win. Perrin’s serve helped a lot Belogorie BELGOROD also in the first set – with him on the serving line, the hosts scored eight points in a row moving the score to 19-8.
• Menelaos Kokkinakis and Andrii Kutsmus from Stade Poitevin POITIERS contributed most to their team, recording nine and eight points respectively.
Denis Zemchenok, player of Belogorie BELGOROD: “We knew that the French team came without their main players, so this match was to help us prepare for the upcoming match of the Russian championship against Fakel NOVY URENGOY. But we have no illusions about the second match in Poitiers – they will play at home with their best spiker, they have a different hall which is not easy to play in. Therefore, we expect a big fight.”
Andrii Kutsmus, player of Stade Poitevin POITIERS: “I feel very good - I have spent many seasons in Russia and it is always a pleasure to come back here. As for the match, we had some nice moments, our guys played well. Of course, we realised that Belogorie is much stronger both physically and tactically. We have a lot of young players in the team and for them it is already a big thing to take part in matches like this.”
Vero Volley MONZA (ITA) vs SC Portugal LISBOA (POR) 2-3 (26-24, 25-12, 22-25, 22-25, 8-15)
• This was the first loss for MONZA in this year’s Challenge Cup.
• The match started in the best way for the hosts as they claimed a close first set and they were the dominant force in the second. Viktor Yosifov stood out at blocking, while Donovan Dzavoronok and Amir Ghafour contributed in attack.
• As everything seemed to be just fine for Vero Volley, Angel Dennis and Leonel Marshall joined the game for SC Portugal LISBOA. These two experienced players changed the course of the match taking two sets in a row and the tiebreak as well.
Viktor Yosifov, middle blocker of Vero Volley MONZA: “We are upset for this defeat but nothing is lost. After two sets played with consistency and character, we suffered their return as Dennis and Marshall were extremely good at raising the quality of their attack. It is clear that in Lisbon, in the return match, it will not be easy, but it will be a new game to play and we will put the maximum effort to reach the final.”
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