23/02/2017 01:39
RC CANNES bid farewell to European Cups with tiebreak victory over Budowlani
2017 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women
Cannes, France, February 22, 2017. RC CANNES had no other option than to win the re-match with Budowlani LODZ by 3-0 or 3-1 to stay in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Cup – Women. France’s record national champions were still alive up to the end of the third set or so, but when trailing 1-2 they knew they had to bid farewell to the European Cups for this season. RC CANNES did so in style as they eventually rallied to a 3-2 victory (25-20, 23-25, 28-30, 25-13, 15-13) before some 825 fans in attendance at Palais des Victoires.
After the kick-off celebrated with the help of Polish-born former international player Krystyna Mackulewicz, RC CANNES caught a promising start to the match, outplaying their opponents in every aspect of the game to lead by as many as 10 points at 17-7. Budowlani, however, responded well and closed in at 22-18; and yet, the players from the French Riviera came out on top (25-20) to stay alive in this contest. RC CANNES rallied to a 15-12 lead in the second set thanks to their fighting spirit and some remarkable defence actions. However, Budowlani started scoring more and more often and by capitalising on their physical edge, they eventually stamped a 25-23 win. The third set was the crucial one – with Budowlani taking a small lead at the second technical time-out (16-14). RC CANNES edged ahead at 23-22 and save many set balls for LODZ before the visitors closed it out at 30-28 to secure their progression to the next round. The fourth and fifth sets were of no significance, but RC CANNES played with passion and consistency to finish their European campaign with a tiebreak win.
Kaja Grobelna and Julia Twardowska top scored for Budowlani LODZ with 15 and 12 points, respectively as Sanja Bursac and Gergana Dimitrova paced RC CANNES with 22 and 18.
“Even though we did not progress to the next round, there is nothing I can blame my team for,” said RC CANNES head coach Laurent Tillie. “We served well and used some good tactical options; we simply missed out on a few opportunities towards the end of the second and third sets. I am satisfied with the attitude and spirit showed by my team tonight and even our substitute players did perform well. The team is showing progress and that is what really matters for the rest of the season, where we will now focus entirely on our national league.”
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