23/01/2020 09:54
Injury-plagued SCHWERIN victorious in Finland
CEV Volleyball Cup 2020 - Women
Hämeenlinna, Finland, January 23, 2020. SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN of Germany are only two sets away from reaching the quarterfinals of the CEV Volleyball Cup 2020 – Women after securing a 3-1 victory (25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 25-16) in Finland. The hosts of HÄMEENLINNA caught a promising start but lost the first set before regrouping and seizing the second. However, things changed again in the remainder of the match, with the Germans celebrating a well-deserved 3-1 victory.
As the visitors opted for a rather unusual starting six, despite the loss, the hosts had something to celebrate as well, with Suvi Kokkonen making her comeback from injury and opposite Mikayla Shields enjoying her debut in the CEV Cup.
Martin Watne Frydnes, coach of SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN: “It was a hard game for us due some illnesses. I am happy with the victory, but this is not the kind of performance that we can be proud of displaying. We had big challenges as we were missing one of our key players. Moreover, we came here without our head coach Felix Koslowski. Three of our players have just returned from the Olympic qualification and missed working with the rest of the team for a long time.”
Matteo Pentassuglia, head coach of HÄMEENLINNA: “This was mainly a serve/reception duel. Our team is not familiar with this kind of jump serves that SCHWERIN showed tonight. That was our biggest problem. Another thing was that we played now the first match with our best starting six. Many good things are awaiting us in the near future. We will have a great home crowd against us in the second leg. If we manage to get our reception working better, we have our chance.”
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