27/01/2017 09:05
Khimik through to CEV Cup 8th Finals after playing ten sets
2017 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women
Yuzhny, Ukraine, January 26, 2017. It took another five sets – as in their previous matchup – but Ukraine’s six-time national champions Khimik YUZHNY eventually beat Romania’s Supercup winners C.S.M. TARGOVISTE 3-2 (25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13) to secure a spot in the 8th Finals of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Cup – Women. Khimik and C.S.M. TARGOVISTE contested as many as 10 sets in two matches and again the Romanians claimed two sets in a row after trailing 0-2 but Khimik will be the ones to challenge Serbia’s Vizura BEOGRAD in the next round of the competition.
Khimik rallied to a 5-1 lead in the first set and after a time-out C.S.M. TARGOVISTE fought back to level at five-all. Khimik edged ahead again at 16-12 and even though the coach of the Romanian team, Dragan Nesic, tried to change the course of the game with some changes to his starting six, Khimik cruised to a 25-16 win sealed by three spikes in a row from Kateryna Silchenkova. The second set was much closer (7-7, 14-14, 19-20) and Milagros Collar piled up two set points for the visitors before Silchenkova got Khimik back on track for a 26-24 win.
Khimik need to win one more set to secure their progression to the next round. However, C.S.M. TARGOVISTE finally found their rhythm, cruised to 16-10 and 24-19 leads and even though Khimik scored four times in a row, Collar sealed a 25-23 win for the visitors. C.S.M. TARGOVISTE were still in contention for a spot in the next round – and their chances were more than alive after they took the fourth set as well. The teams switched sides of the court with C.S.M. TARGOVISTE leading 8-6 in the tiebreak but two points by Silchenkova and Anastasiia Chernukha restored the balance at 8-all. Silchenkova contributed to a 10-8 lead for the hosts and the match eventually ended at 15-13 with three straight blocks from Inna Molodtsova.
Collar and Chernukha top scored in the match with 27 points each for C.S.M. TARGOVISTE and Khimik, respectively.
Dragan Nesic, head coach of C.S.M. TARGOVISTE: “Congratulations to Khimik! It was the same tough game we had in Romania. We had a chance to make it through to the next round but we did not use it.”
Alexandra Sobo, player of C.S.M. TARGOVISTE: “It was the kind of tough match that we expected. We tried to play our best but I think luck this time was on our opponent’s side. However, I am still happy with our performance.”
Andriy Romanovych, head coach of Khimik YUZHNY: “Many thanks to the fans! They really created an amazing atmosphere tonight! We could not lose this game with such support! Many thanks to the team as well! My players performed their best in the most important moments.”
Alla Politanska, player of Khimik: “Many thanks to our fans for their support. We could hear and feel them. We lost focus in the third set and let our opponents come back into the game. The tiebreak was a real battle and our motivation reached its climax there. We showed good team work and as a result we won the last set and with it the match as well.”
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
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