26/02/2013 19:00
Dinamo KRASNODAR routs LP SALO in Challenge Cup first semifinal round
2013 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Women
Krasnodar, Russia, February 26, 2013. On Tuesday Russia’s Dinamo KRASNODAR easily edged LP SALO of Finland in straight sets (25-6, 25-20, and 25-18) in the first semifinal match scheduled for the 2013 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup waiting for the return game that is coming up this weekend in Finland.
The game started with a series of serving errors from both sides and that quickly moved the score up to 3 all. However, Dinamo gradually imposed its quality and supremacy, especially in blocking, and the score stood at 11:4 as LP SALO head coach Kari Raatikainen asked for a time-out. This, however, did not change much as the home heroines played superbly and with great confidence to wrap it up with a terrific 25-6.
Sini Häkkinen scored a couple of aces for LP SALO in the early phases of the second set with her side moving to the front (1:3) but Dinamo responded by claiming the next five rallies to flip the charts around (6:3). However, the score remained close as KRASNODAR started making some mistakes while LP SALO was being anchored in offense by the duo composed of Serbian Dubravka Stojanovic and Ukraine’s Olena Kozyriatska (13:12). After that, the spikes killed by Marina Maryukhnich opened the gap for Dinamo (20:15) but the Finns did not surrender and clawed back to 21:20 before they ran out of fuel and KRASNODAR could go for the provisional 2:0 (25-20).
The third set started like a carbon copy of the previous one, with LP SALO – the first Finnish club in history capable of making to the semis of the European Cups – going up 3:1 before the home side got back control of the operations. Two aces by their American star Destinee Hooker (pictured) – top scorer in the end with 23 points – moved the count up to 15:10 for Dinamo and KRASNODAR did not slow the pace up to the final 25-18 that sealed a well-deserved 3:0 victory.
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