13/11/2012 21:54
BERLIN Recycling Volleys have the edge over Budvanska Rivijera BUDVA
2013 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Berlin, Germany, November, 13, 2012. Claiming their second victory in the prelims of the 2013 CEV Volleyball Champions League, BERLIN Recycling Volleys made another step forward to advance to the Playoffs of Europe’s most prestigious club competition as they defeated Budvanska Rivijera BUDVA 3:1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-19, and 25-13) on Tuesday night.
The side of BERLIN started out confidently, establishing an early 8:4 lead. With huge blocks by Tomas Kmet and Felix Fischer and powerful hits by Robert Kromm (pictured), the best scorer of BERLIN with 19 points, the hosts did never allow BUDVA to close the gap and could eventually claim the first set (25-16). “We played great there”, team captain Scott Touzinsky said afterwards. “But we lost our focus in the second set”, he concluded.
And indeed, BUDVA had the better start in round two (2:4) and henceforth, 3’875 spectators got to see a tight second set at Max-Schmeling-Halle. Although BERLIN steadily fought back, BUDVA did not slacken its grip, taking the lead at 10:12. Not able to make up for the lost ground, BERLIN lost the second set (20-25).
Also in round three, BERLIN did not find its rhythm (3:5). Both teams fought devotedly not allowing the other side to pull away. A service ace by Felix Fischer marked the first two-point lead of the hosts (13:11) and it was again the middle-blocker who took his team to a set-winning 20:16 lead.
After claiming the third set (25-19), BERLIN started out as powerful as they had begun in the first round. A service ace by Tomas Kmet marked the 5:0 lead and his team further pulled away (8:2). Captain Scott Touzinsky contributed the 20:12 lead with a clever hit. BUDVA was not able to put up more resistance and was overrun by the hosts who claimed the fourth set (25-13) and left their coach confident for the up-coming away match in BUDVA.
“We’re happy with our three points”, Mark Lebedew said. “We had a great start in set number one, but we were not able to keep up the pressure in the second round as we had problems in our service and reception”, the Australian analyzed and added: “I’m particularly happy that players like Aleksandar Spirovski showed the strength of their nerves”.
For head coach Sinisa Reljic - in whose team Voijin Cacic was the best scorer (18 points) - it was the expected defeat. “I hoped that we would be able to take a point out of this away match, tough”, he said and found reasons why his team could not cope with the opponent’s strength: “In Montenegro we’re not used to play at this high level”.
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