05/12/2012 20:30
BUDVA finally enjoys the sweet taste of victory
2013 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Budva, Montenegro, December 5, 2012. They had to wait for five rounds but the guys of Budvanska Rivijera BUDVA could finally celebrate their first win in the prelims of this year’s CEV Volleyball Champions League as on Wednesday they edged – to the delight of 600 home fans – Jihostroj CESKE BUDEJOVICE after a real marathon (25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 13-25, and 15-7). With this first positive result the group will travel next week to Russia to play there the absolute leader of Pool B, i.e. Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK, and round out their European campaign.
Budvanska Rivijera caught a good start and played really well showing a good block defense system, with Vojin Cacic standing out in offense and heavily helping claim the opening set (25-21). However, things turned around in the second set where the Czechs imposed their own game (22-25) before BUDVA got back on track in set 3, after a slow start had opened the way for an 8:10 in favor of Jihostroj. Budvanska Rivijera cruised to the front at 14:12 and eventually showed great composure in a dramatic final rush where the “orange” guys were much helped by Milan Markovic (25-23). Still the hosts lost focus and quality in set 4 being able to score only 13 points there and hence a tie-break was called. There BUDVA played with glowing hearts and eventually could leave the court celebrating a happy end (15-7).
“We have finally recorded our first win in this competition, something we really had been longing for” says Budvanska Rivijera head coach Sinisa Reljic. “Oliver Venno finally played his best and this is showed by the stats, since he scored 29 points all alone. We are not going to Russia just to have a long journey, we’ll play our best in Novosibirsk to get some points and possibly make it to the Challenge Round of the CEV Cup by finishing third in our group”.
“I have to congratulate our coaching staff and all players on this victory” adds team captain Milan Markovic. “We can’t be satisfied with the way we played in some sections of the match but we did win and this is what counts in the end. This gives us the right boost for the next match in Russia”.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
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