29/10/2013 22:14
SOPOT routs Belgian girls in straight sets
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Sopot, Poland, October 29, 2013. Poland’s champions Atom Trefl SOPOT easily claimed their second victory in prelim Pool C of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League as they routed Belgian rookie GENT Dames in straight sets (25-9, 25-20, and 25-17) on Tuesday evening at ERGO Arena to follow up on their victory from last week in Romania with Dinamo Romprest BUCURESTI.
The hosts needed only 18 minutes to claim the opening set where they opened with a terrific 8:2 run; GENT Dames mentor Stijn Morand asked for a time-out to try to find some answer but he was not that successful as SOPOT moved the charts up to 10:3. The guests could not do much to stop the terrific run of the Atomic girls who finished it off with a 25-9 and a great ratio of efficiency in reception (71%).
The second set was a little different with a close start (4 all) before Atom Trefl opened the gap already by the first mandatory stop (8:4). However, GENT could respond and tied the score at 8 all before the game continued with some ups and downs for both sides. SOPOT head coach Teun Buijs decided to stop the game at 13 all and his players showed the reaction he wanted to get as they moved the score up to 16:14. SOPOT kept cool and even though GENT head coach Stijn Morand stopped the game once more at 19:16, the hosts did not slow their pace down and could seal the final 25-20 for a 2:0 lead in sets.
SOPOT dictated the pace of the game also in the third set (6:2, 10:3) and the advantage had grown up to eight points after two blocks by Zuzanna Efimienko and Judith Pietersen (14:6). The home heroines had a very comfortable margin by the second technical time-out (16:7) and even though GENT could display some more good actions, SOPOT finished their job at 25-17 for the joy of 2,000 home fans.
“We are really happy to be able to play in such atmosphere: this is something unknown to us” GENT head coach Stijn Morand said. “My team is very young and inexperienced, and we have been expecting that the match with SOPOT would be very tough for us. Our opponent is much more experienced and very well organized” he continued.
“The most important thing for us is that all our players could perform tonight. Some of them are very young and that was the first time they played such an important game” stressed SOPOT team captain Izabela Belcik.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
|