Nizhny Tagil, Russia, February 25, 2014. DRESDNER SC emerged victorious from the exciting first leg of its semifinal clash with Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG in the 2014 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women. In front of almost 2500 spectators in Nizhny Tagil, the German side edged the home team in five sets by a final score of 3:2 (28-26, 15-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-7), shaped up in 110 minutes of playtime.
The first set was a real thriller, with some great serving from both ends and Uralochka leading the way through most of its duration. The Russians were up by four points at the second technical time-out, but as the set moved closer to its end, some unforced errors by the home team and DRESDNER’s great blocking performance helped the Germans show some character and not only catch up, but also turn things around for the final 28-26.
The second set was a relatively straightforward affair. Uralochka shot up to an 8-1 lead by the first break and then continued to widen the gap with great efficiency in offense to tie the match at 1:1 after 25-15.
Set 3 went the opposite way. This time DRESDNER’s attacks were very successful and the visiting team was in control of the scoreboard through the eventual 25-20.
The fourth set was very tight and featured some changes in the lead. The Germans committed far too many mistakes to stay competitive all the way through the end of the set and lost it by 22-25.
But they seemed to know exactly just how “expensive” the fourth set turned out to be for Uralochka as the home team's leader Yumilka Ruiz could barely hide her exhaustion and pain in the tiebreaker. The DRESDNER SC players came out completely concentrated, showed a lot of precision in their performance and with their unstoppable spikes and good blocking rushed to a 15-7 win in the set and 3:2 victory in the match.
With the return match scheduled for Saturday, March 1, 14:00 local time in Dresden, the two teams’ fans will only need to be patient for four more days to find out what the final outcome of this two-legged semifinal duel will be.
Irina Zaryazhko tallied up 23 points for Uralochka to top the scorers’ chart of the match. She particularly impressed with her blocking efforts, scoring as many as 10 points from that element. Lisa Izquierdo was DRESDNER’s best scorer of the game with 17 points.
“We honestly did not expect that we would be able to beat such a strong team as Uralochka,” DRESDNER SC head coach Alexander Waibl admitted. “The Russian league is another lever of a league and Uralochka’s fifth spot does not mean that the opponent is not very serious. After winning the first set, the girls just seemed to have entered the euphoria of victory which got them totally relaxed. But then they believed that they were really able to beat this team. It is the maximum we can play at the moment. But there will not be any difference for the second match in Dresden. We are the underdog of the semifinal and we can be satisfied with each set we win.”
“The opponent showed great persistence today while we lacked energy and concentration,” his Uralochka counterpart Nikolai Karpol commented. “We still have a couple of days to recover before the return game. We will try to solve the problems. Nothing is lost yet.”
Stefanie Karg, captain of DRESDNER SC, is proud of the team and her teammates´ performance: “I am happy that we played full of passion. We acted really well as team. I think that is the reason why we could make this totally unexpected win happen.”
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