28/01/2016 00:50
Romanian rookies bid farewell to Champions League, happily join CEV Cup Challenge Round
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women
Sibiu, Romania, January 27, 2016. CS Volei Alba BLAJ finished their campaign in the League Round of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women by claiming a three-point win (3-1; 22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-12) in their home matchup with France’s Rocheville LE CANNET in front of a crowded hall at Transilvania Sporting Centre in Sibiu. As a result, Romania’s champions finished third in Pool F with two wins and seven points from six matches and will now continue their European campaign in the Challenge Round of the CEV Volleyball Cup, waiting for the Drawing of Lots to know the name of their next opponent.
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It wasn’t a perfect start for the Romanian champions as Rocheville LE CANNET proved right from the beginning of the match that they did their homework very well and with a very inspired setter they claimed the lead in the first set. The home team helped as well with their service errors and a shaky defence, this ultimately resulting in a 25-22 set win for LE CANNET.
It took 14 rallies for the players around head coach Darko Zakoc to level the score and take the lead in the second set. From that point on the two teams fought closely up until the finish line. CS Volei Alba BLAJ completed their run to restore the balance in the match with a point scored by their captain Adina Salaoru.
The Romanian rookies were focussed on taking three points from this match to secure their progression to the Challenge Round of the CEV Volleyball Cup. With the engines up and running smoothly for the first time in the match, the hosts had no problem at all to be the dominant side through to the end of the third set, of course with some help coming from the stands and the raucous partisan crowd of Sibiu.
The players of CS Volei Alba BLAJ were careful enough not to stumble in the decisive set. They set the pace from the start and they kept the rhythm high marching towards a historic qualification for the Challenge Round of Europe’s second most prestigious club competition.
“It was crucial for us to continue our European journey. As you can imagine, victories like this one in the world’s most important club competition are lived in a more intense way coming from a small town like Blaj. Thankfully we were able to cope with the tension and the pressure to claim a positive result, so in the end we delivered a well-deserved gift to our supporters. We feel like we can play against any opponent now,” said the happy head coach of the home team, Darko Zakoc.
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