12/07/2014 21:33
Azerbaijan complete European League campaign on a high note
2014 CEV Volleyball European League - Women
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 12, 2014. After a slow start of their first ever campaign in the CEV Volleyball European League – Women, the national team of Azerbaijan got back on track to finish pool play in second place with 16 points, one clear of Bulgaria, their opponent for the last weekend of the prelims which they routed in straight sets on Saturday (25-18, 29-27, 25-15).
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Though Bulgaria scored the first point of the match with their captain and middle-blocker Viktoriya Grigorova, Azerbaijan soon got control of the game, cruising to a terrific 8:2 lead at the first technical time-out, propelled by three points scored by Yelyzaveta Samadova. As Bulgaria scored three in a row, Azerbaijan’s head coach Aleksandr Chervyakov asked for a time-out. Samadova continued to display a very strong performance but all of the home heroines played really well, thereby moving the score up to 18:8, which was enough to comfortably cash the first set (25-18).
The teams fought for each point in the early stages of the second set with Azerbaijan calling for the first technical time-out leading the way at 8:6. Polina Rahimova was the real star player for the home team in this set as Azerbaijan delighted their fans with a flawless performance. Still the score remained very tight down the final stretch with ties at 23, 24, 26, and 27, before Azerbaijan gave the local crowd something more to cheer about finishing it off at 29-27.
Bulgaria started out strong in the third set leading 3:2 and 6:3 but Azerbaijan got back control of the game, setting the tempo at both technical time-outs (8:6, 16:14), paving the way for a speedy 25-15 and a 3:0 victory to crown their first participation in the CEV Volleyball European League.
“We had won our home matches with Azerbaijan but we failed to repeat that feat here in Baku,” said Bulgaria’s team captain Viktoriya Grigorova. “We nevertheless did our best. In my opinion it was Polina Rahimova who played a major role in Azerbaijan’s victory today.”
Azerbaijan’s team captain Anastasiya Gurbanova agreed on Rahimova’s contribution (top scorer in the end with 22 points) and added: “We had lost our away matches in Bulgaria because our young players had no experience at this level and it was our first matches together. However, we see how fast we have been improving throughout this campaign in the European League and I hope that more victories will follow in the future.”
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