26/10/2011 23:41
PGE Skra delights more than 8'000 fans with classy win over TOURS VB
2012 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men
Lodz, Poland, October 26, 2011. PGE Skra BELCHATOW defeated tonight TOURS VB 3:1 (25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22) to claim the provisional leadership of the standings in Pool F.
It was all open in the first set until Daniel Plinski made two spikes in a row to give the home team a margin of two (23:21) and Miguel Falasca blocked Milos Terzic right after the time-out for TOURS VB. Bartosz Kurek was the man who closed the opening set (25-22) with a powerful spike from the back line. Kurek scored 7 points all alone in this set, while David Konecny, Yosleyder Cala Gerardo and David Smith were the only players of the guest team who scored points, for a total of 15.
Michal Winiarski was the key player in the second set. The winger of PGE Skra, who has been playing with a broken finger for the last two weeks, recorded 4 points, including an important block in the middle stage of the set.
It was 8:13 in the third set when Jacek Nawrocki asked for his first time-out in this match. It did not help the Polish champion, and with the score standing at 10:16 by the second technical time-out, it looked like this section of the game was gone for the home guys. The French vice-champion did a great job in attack, killing the balls with an amazing 64% of efficiency while setter Rafael Redwitz showed great creativity to help his team-mates. Even 3 blocks recorded by Daniel Plinski did not help PGE Skra.
David Konecny started the fourth set with great spikes and gave the visiting team a 5:2 advantage forcing Jacek Nawrocki to ask for a time-out. It worked, as Miguel Falasca’s ace leveled at 10 all. The score was tight until the end, but the finish belonged to the Polish champion and Wytze Kooistra who closed the match with a block.
Bartosz Kurek was the best scorer tonight with 20 points, including 8 (!) in the last set. Plinski added 17, Winiarski 15 and Wlazly 14. Cala Gerardo and David Konecny scored 18 each for TOURS VB. The perfect block made the difference for PGE Skra (12:5) with the hosts outplaying their opponents also in terms of aces (5:0).
“Our reception was on good level. We are happy as this result will build our mentality and puts us in a very good position in Pool F. TOURS VB may succeed not only to make it out of the group but also to advance through the Playoff stage of the 2012 CEV Volleyball Champions League. It is a very difficult team to play with” stated PGE Skra coach Jacek Nawrocki. “We wanted to win for us and our great fans. We played really one of the best matches this season” PGE Skra captain Mariusz Wlazly added. “We did our utmost to win and proved that we are not going through any crisis. It was a very difficult match but apart from the third set we showed a solid form and avoided serious mistakes” said the best scorer of the game, Bartosz Kurek. “We delivered a good performance and I am happy with the way we played, however it was not enough to beat PGE Skra. It is good that all the fans watched a good match, played on a high level” TOURS VB captain Rafael Redwitz stated. The coach of the guest team, Mauricio Paes, added: “PGE Skra is a great team with many good players, even sitting on the bench. It gives the coach many solutions in difficult moments. Block and block-defense worked well for the Polish team tonight. We lost but such matches build our confidence and let us grow-up. Over 8’000 fans made us play even better, but these fans were more important for the home team as they were like their seventh player”.
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