19/10/2011 21:24
Zaksa scores first win against young but determined Serbian side
2012 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Poland, October 19, 2011. Poland’s Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE opened tonight the operations in Pool C of the 2011 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men in front of 1'800 fans at the “Azoty” sports hall by edging Partizan Termoelektro BEOGRAD 3:1 (25-20, 25-18, 21-25, 25-16) mainly via a strong performance of its spikers and by profiting of the mistakes committed by the young opponents from Serbia. Partizan could still be happy with its play tonight, confirming that this team has got the potential to cause some upsets in the prelims of Europe’s most elitist competition.
Zaksa started by setting the tempo in the opening set (6:3) after a block of Zagumny and although Partizan leveled at 12 all, the attacks of Antonin Rouzier and Michal Ruciak paved the way for the final 25-20 in favor of the hosts. The second set was a little shorter and 17 attacks killed by Zaksa contributed the final 25-18 and provisional 2:0. However, things changed in set 3 where Zaksa lost consistency. “I can remember that we have lost 7 points in a row there” admitted wing spiker Michal Ruciak after the game. “We were surprised by their good defense and counterattacks”. So Partizan pocketed set 3 (21-25) via the help of captain Nikola Mijailovic and Aleksandar Minic.
Zaksa came back fully focused in set 4, going up 12:6 and then 16:9 by the second technical time-out. The young Serbian side gradually ran out of fuel and the match ended in a 3:1 for Zaksa. “I did not blame my players after the third set” said head coach Krzysztof Stelmach. “I simply told them that they had to play their game. I am very happy with this victory as we showed that our good performances in the national league are not just a coincidence. We have scored 13 blocks but we could have totaled even more”. “This is a very good result for us” added captain Pawel Zagumny, “because most of our players are competing for the first time in their career in the Champions League”.
“Zaksa totally deserved this win, they were simply better tonight” concluded the head coach of Partizan, Milan Djuricic.
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