03/12/2013 17:17
Azeryol take their revenge edging Italian rookie CONEGLIANO
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Baku, Azerbaijan, December 3, 2013. After
losing last week at the tie-break, Azeryol BAKU got their revenge as Tuesday
they edged Italy’s rookie Prosecco Doc-Imoco CONEGLIANO 3:1 (25-23, 30-32,
25-22, and 25-23) to stop the winning streak of their opponents after three
rounds. Waiting for the result of the game starring Galatasaray Daikin ISTANBUL
and Unendo Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO, CONEGLIANO still tops the charts in Pool E
with seven points followed by Galatasaray and Azeryol with six apiece.
As
they were both struggling with their block and reception, the teams tried to
make the best out of their attacks in the opening set. They exchanged the lead
back and forth many times up to 20 all; even though Azeryol head coach Angelo
Vercesi had started the game without home star Polina Rahimova, the local
heroines could get a first set point at 24:23 and that opportunity was cashed
by Margareta Kozuch for the final 25-23.
Azeryol
dictated the tempo of the game for most of the second set (8:6, 19:15) but
their guests from Italy were able to fight their way back and eventually flip
the charts around (20:21). A terrific fight continued in a long extra time and
CONEGLIANO eventually had the upper hand to tie the score in sets (30-32).
This
very close game continued to follow a similar plot also in the third set where
Vercesi stopped the match as his side was trailing 10:12. They eventually managed
to get the lead back (21:19) but CONEGLIANO responded by drawing level at 22.
In the end, Azeryol scored three straight points to make it 25-22 and claim a
2:1 lead in sets.
The
home side caught a flying start in the fourth set (8:3) but once more their
opponents showed their character and fighting spirit to claw back and make it
15 all before they even moved to the front though very shortly (17:18). Vercesi
really wanted to take three points from this game and with some more effective
attacks killed by their spikers Azeryol could get their revenge for last week’s
defeat in Italy (25-22, 3:1).
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