16/03/2016 22:05
Fakel NOVY URENGOY whitewash Belgian sensation in first round of Challenge Cup semis
2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Men
Novy Urengoy, Russia, March 16, 2016. On Wednesday Russia’s Fakel NOVY URENGOY claimed the first round of the 2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Men semis with Prefaxis MENEN cruising to a commanding 3-0 home win (25-19, 25-14, 25-18) waiting now for the return match to follow this coming Sunday in Belgium.
Fakel NOVY URENGOY needed only 68 minutes to sweep aside their Belgian opponents who had caused a sensation by qualifying for the semis of the Challenge Cup for a second time in history after achieving the same feat in 2012.
The start of the match already set the tone for what was going to follow. The Russian team showed their class and better physical and technical skills to impose their supremacy throughout the match. Egor Kliuka (pictured) and especially Dmitrii Volkov, the very talented outside spiker of Fakel, left their mark on the opening set which came to an end with a commanding 25-19 win for the hosts.
Igor Kolodinskiy – a silver medallist from the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship with former partner Dmitry Barsouk – opted for a faster game in the second set and as a result he set many times for middle blockers Ilia Vlasov and Ivan Iakovlev. The second set followed the same pattern of the previous one with Fakel comfortably cruising to another dominant set win - 25-14.
Fakel played with consistency and made just a few mistakes in the second and third sets, this resulting in commanding wins to seal their 3-0 victory in the match.
“Prefaxis will be playing in a totally different way in Belgium; there is no doubt about that. Tonight they didn’t get any chance to find their way into the game because we performed really strong. We were focussed from start to end, did only very few mistakes and served very well too,” said Igor Kolodinskiy, the team captain of Fakel NOVY URENGOY.
“Fakel is a very strong team, especially from a physical standpoint, and going into the semis we knew it was going to be quite tough for us. They have two of the world’s best Volleyball players in their roster – Ilia Vlasov and Egor Kliuka plus an experienced setter, Igor Kolodinskiy. We would have stood a chance if we had received a little better than we did tonight,” said after the match Igor Juricic, the head coach of Prefaxis MENEN.
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