02/04/2016 22:56
Dinamo KRASNODAR retain CEV Cup crown by scoring resounding home win
2016 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women
Krasnodar, Russia, April 2, 2016. Russia’s Dinamo KRASNODAR added on Saturday another chapter to their success story in the European Cups as they edged Turkey’s Galatasaray Daikin ISTANBUL in three sets (25-23, 25-22, 29-27) to retain the crown of the CEV Volleyball Cup – Women they had claimed for the first time in 2015. This is the third major international title for the team from the Kuban Region since in 2013 Dinamo had topped the final standing of the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup.
There was a lot of anticipation around this final especially after Galatasaray Daikin had claimed a 3-2 home win on Tuesday. 2,650 fans were in attendance for a sold-out Olimp sports hall and many more followed the match on TV. The Russian supporters were not left disappointed as Dinamo cruised to a commanding 3-0 win to claim back-to-back titles in Europe’s second most prestigious club competition.
The start of the match was close with Dinamo leading 6-3 before their opponent stormed back to flip the charts at the first technical time-out (8-7). Dinamo coach Konstantin Ushakov asked for a time-out when his side trailed 9-11 and his players responded well, levelling the count at 13-all. After the Russians edged ahead 19-17, it was the turn of Turkish coach Ataman Güneyligil to stop the actions and he got the desired effect as Galatasaray went ahead 21-20. Dinamo took another time-out and the home side got back control of the match at 23-21; after a double block by Alexandra Pasynkova and Anastasia Samoylenko (Shlyakhovaya), Dinamo extended their lead to 24-21; Galatasaray survived to two set balls before Samoylenko finished it all off 25-23.
The second set was like a carbon copy of the previous one. Galatasaray started off well but Dinamo fought back to lead 6-3. A time-out asked by the Turkish coach did not stop the Russian march (7-3) and Dinamo claimed a comfortable 8-4 lead at the first technical time-out. However, the visitors from Turkey clawed back to make it 9-all and their captain Nadia Centoni levelled the count once again at 11-11. Samoylenko helped Dinamo edge ahead again at 16-12 and the Russian armada could keep their four-point advantage at 20-16. Natalia Malykh was the most outstanding player in the final section of this set, securing a 2-0 lead for Dinamo in the match.
The story of the match did not change in the third set either. Galatasaray came back from a slow start leading 8-7 after a two-point deficit at 5-3 for Dinamo. The score remained close midway through the set and at 13-all Russian superstar Tatiana Kosheleva finally made her first appearance on court. Güldeniz Önal contributed a two-point lead for Galatasaray at 16-14 before Kosheleva restored the balance at 16-16. The Turks edged ahead again at 19-17 before an ace by Marina Maryukhnich levelled the count once more at 19-all. The final stages of the third set were truly dramatic with Natalia Malykh being again the star player and contributing match point at 24-23. Still, it was far from being over and the excitement reached its climax only after Malykh - eventual MVP of the Finals - put an end to this drama by sealing the final 29-27 and make Dinamo a two-time winner of the CEV Volleyball Cup.
Dinamo KRASNODAR captain Liubov Sokolova said: “We just claimed this cup and it feels like we won the World Cup. It was really important for us. We knew that with the support of our fans and playing at home we would perform much better than in the previous match in Istanbul. We could claim this match with such clear score because we did a good job from a technical standpoint – our block and defence worked really well - and because of the detailed analysis of our opponent we had done with our coaching staff. We would like to thank our fans and families. This victory is very important for us and for everyone who cheers us on. So thanks a lot, your support was just great! We are glad that we brought happiness to our fans and they did the same to us by filling the arena to capacity. It was amazing! Thanks everyone!”
Dinamo KRASNODAR coach Konstantin Ushakov: “There aren’t any emotions to share after such match (smiling). We are of course extremely happy. Even though the final score is 3-0, you shouldn’t think that it was an easy win for us. It was not. We had to fight through to the end. And I’m happy that we won. Special thanks to our fans. It was incredible! Such crowded stands made us win! I really want to see such full stands for every match we play here.”
Galatasaray Daikin coach Ataman Güneyligil: “It was really important for us to win this match but of course we understand that since we are a young team, it takes more efforts for us to handle such match with such strong opponent and we hope it will not take too long to catch up and be able to win such kind of matches. Of course we would have liked to play the return match at home because it’s an advantage but it’s the finals and if it’s necessary to play away, that is fine with us.”
Galatasaray Daikin team captain Nadia Centoni: “It was a rather tough match and we probably should have won the last set but we did the best we could.”
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