22/10/2013 19:58
Dinamo edges Italian champions to open CL campaign on a high note
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Moscow, Russia, October 22, 2013. Though they have gone through a busy schedule with 11 matches in less than a month, the players of Dinamo MOSCOW showed they were in a great shape for their debut in the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League. On Tuesday they started their campaign by edging Italy’s champions RebecchiNMeccanica PIACENZA 3:1 (25-21, 25-27, 25-23, and 25-19).
The first set was quite an easy run for the home heroines who comfortably cruised to the final 25-21 controlling the game from the start up to the end.
The Muscovites started the second set playing very aggressive but PIACENZA responded showing their potential and quality as well. Floortje Meijners and Robin de Kruijf – the Dutch duo playing this year for PIACENZA – paced their side and the guests had a margin of four points at the second technical time-out as they blocked Dinamo superstar and 2013 European champion Nataliya Obmochaeva. However, after the break Dinamo tried to bounce back with Obmochaeva and Tatiana Kosheleva on fire in attack and good blocks by Iuliia Morozova. The score was drawn at 24 all but the Italians in the end had the upper hand at 27-25.
The third set was another close fight but this time Dinamo kept cool and wrapped it up at 25-23. The start of the fourth set was very close as well but Dinamo could get the right edge as Ekaterina Krivets went to serve. She scored three aces to move the score up to 19:12 for the hosts and once more with the help of Kosheleva and Obmochaeva, Dinamo could finish it off (25-19, and 3:1).
“We were really very motivated for this debut and I am happy that we won” Kosheleva said after the game. “We made many mistakes in the second set but our block worked just fine and helped us win the game”.
“We had prepared very carefully for this game and I am happy with what my team showed today” added head coach Svetlana Ilic. “We took some risks and this resulted in quite some errors, but we won and this is what counts at the end of the day. We started this competition in the right way and the key point was the third set as we brought it home and the balance of the match switched to our side”.
“This was only the second game this season for us and so I am quite happy with what we showed tonight” said PIACENZA mentor Giovanni Caprara. “We lost the fourth set because our reception was poor. Congratulations to Dinamo; tonight they have showed that they are a strong team”.
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