16/07/2014 23:33
Montenegro comes back strong to win golden set, claims second spot in European League Finals
2014 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Budva, Montenegro, July 16, 2014. Greece was not the only team to cause a sensation on the second night of semi-final action in the 2014 CEV Volleyball European League – Men. Montenegro did also get back on track after their previous defeat to the Former Y.R. of Macedonia from last week in Skopje, it won the return match by 3:1 (25-21, 13-25, 25-22, 25-23) and then also the deciding golden set that followed (15-10). This way Montenegro got the right to play Greece for the crown of this year’s European League in a remake of the matches that these teams played only ten days ago in Budva and where they recorded one victory each.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
The guests from the F.Y.R. of Macedonia started off strong leading 7:5 in the first set before the home heroes drew level at 7 all. Still Macedonia continued to play strong and got back the lead at 14:11; Montenegro improved the quality and consistency of their game moving up 15:14 and 17:14 before Macedonia restored the balance again at 17, 19 and 20. Montenegro then scored another couple of points making it 23:20 before closing the set at 25-21.
The second set started with a close fight before Macedonia scored six unanswered points to move the score to 10:4 in their favour. They kept control of the operations (12:5, 15:8) and their solid performance seemed to discourage the home guys. The guests widened their lead to ten points (23:13) and eventually brought the set to an end at 25-13.
The third set followed a similar pattern, with the score being levelled a few times, at 6, 9, and 12 but it was Macedonia that tried to break away first making it 15:13 and then 16:14 at the second technical time-out. Montenegro then responded restoring the balance at 19 all, it got back the lead at 21:20 and did not look back to win their second set in the game (25-22).
The home side played very aggressive from the beginning of the fourth set (8:6, 10:8); a two-point lead at the second technical time-out was enough to pave the way for the final 25-23 that called for the golden set to determine the winners of this double-header and the side advancing to the finals.
That winning mood showed by Montenegro in the third and fourth sets was maintained also in the golden set where the home heroes opened with a 5:2 lead to accelerate their rhythm (11:7) and cash the 15-10 that got the party started at the Mediteranski Sportski Centar.
Jovica Simovski piled up 28 points for Macedonia in their losing effort; Aleksandar Minic and Bozidar Cuk led all scorers for Montenegro with 19 points each.
“Maybe we could play even better than we did tonight but we entered the game with a little bit of tension, and this resulted in a poor performance in the second set,” said home star Vojin Cacic. “In my opinion the most important thing was our comeback in the third set; we won it and after that we paved our way to the finals.”
“We started well in the second set, won it easily and after that we probably assumed we would continue and cash the match the same way,” said Macedonia’s mentor Zarko Ristoski. “We had our chances in the third and four sets but we did not use them. I am not disappointed because we played a good match and beat at least once every opponent we played in this European League. I would like to congratulate Montenegro and wish them good luck for the final.”
|