Forli, Italy, March 29, 2015. The Portuguese team of Benfica LISBOA came back from two sets down to win by 3:2 (23-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-18, 15-10) against the home team of CMC RAVENNA in the second leg of their semifinal encounter in the 2015 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Men to earn a spot in the final battle for the trophy. On April 8 and 12, Hugo Lucas Gaspar and his teammates will face the Serbian team of Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD in a direct race for the cup. CMS did a great job by reaching 2:0, particularly by winning the second set from 18-23, but eventually Benfica had a strong reaction and took advantage of CMC’s weak links to turn things around.
With very hot ambience on the court, the first set was very competitive and thanks to some great blocking by the home team, it took a 23-21 advantage. Benfica tied at 23-23 with a block by Flavio Soares, but Klemen Cebulj and Rafail Koumentakis gave the first set to the Italian team by 25-23. Benfica started well in the second set and CMC could not find the right reaction with its blockers underperforming. When Benfica reached 23-18 everything seemed doomed for the Italian team, but CMC proved that nothing is impossible: a 9-2 run followed, which brought the home squad to 27-25 and 2:0.
CMC tried to break away in the third set, but after the initial 10-7 it got into trouble with lots of problems in passing. With 3 blocks by Marc-Anthony Honore and good attacks by Flavio Cruz, Benfica regained the lead and with CMC this time not finding the right response, won by 25-20. The home team had a low impact in the nervous fourth set. The Portuguese side walked on to a 16-11 lead before the squad from Ravenna reacted with a 3-point series. But then Benfica’s opposite Hugo Lucas Gaspar was totally on fire and practically by himself secured his team a place in the final leading it to a 25-18 win. The outcome of the last set is no longer important, but Benfica’s morale was much higher contributing to a 15-10 and 3:2 victory.
Hugo Lucas Gaspar was the best scorer of the match with 22 points for Benfica, while Klemen Cebulj tallied up 19 for CMC.
Click here for more details including match statistics.