Luxembourg, November 5, 2019. The #CLVolleyM rookies from Portugal earned another convincing victory, this time in the opening game of Round 2. Benfica LISBOA earned a straight-set home win over OK BUDVA, being now just one step away from reaching the next stage. The Portuguese champions outclassed their opponents in all elements, thus they managed to close the game in 68 minutes, The return match will be held next week on Thursday (November 14) in Budva, Montenegro and still everything is possible, especially since Henry Omar Tapia Santana (BUDVA) scored as many as 22 points (all in attack!), on the home side Peter Wohlfahrtstätter tallied 13.
Benfica LISBOA (POR) vs OK BUDVA (MNE) 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-18)
- Benfica LISBOA hit the ground running against the Montenegrin champions. Fully-focused and confident, the team led by Marcel Matz managed to get a significant lead (14-8, 17-10) and won the first set 25-15.
- OK BUDVA clinched an early lead in the 2nd set (0-2), but Benfica LISBOA recovered quickly and raced to 9-5. The hosts extended the advantage further, closing also this set in their favour.
- The last set started much more balanced than the previous, but high-quality serve of Benfica LISBOA made the difference and the home side could celebrate their third consecutive straight-set win in #CLVolleyM.
- OK BUDVA during the whole match struggled with reception and service (14 errors in this element).
- Henry Omar Tapia Santana (OK BUDVA) scored a match-high 22 points.
Marcel Matz, head coach of Benfica LISBOA: “If we evaluate the numbers, it was an almost perfect game. We gave the team from Montenegro only a little chance. Of course, they will try to reverse the situation at home, but we will come as the team with a very strong service and attack. I really enjoyed the game, I think we had some problems in block, more precisely we couldn’t stop their opposite. He scored a lot of points. But it is difficult for one player to do everything alone. We successfully neutralised other players, so he couldn’t win the game by himself.”
Raphael Thiago Oliveira, player of Benfica LISBOA: “I think it was a game where we were able to set the pace, we put pressure on our opponents throughout the whole match. Our team worked hard for this win and we are going to keep on working to save the result at their home.”
Vladimir Vasović, head coach of OK BUDVA: “It was a great night for the hosts, they played much better than us. This is not the real value of my team, I hope we can play much better next week.”
Byron Ferguson, player of OK BUDVA: “We had a poor game, but LISBOA played a very good match. They have many experienced players, but we still have the chance to play better. We will prepare for next week and we will see what we can do.”
For further information, click here.