20/11/2013 22:50
Aurubis HAMBURG open Challenge Cup campaign with hard-fought home victory
2014 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Women
Hamburg, Germany, November 20, 2013. Last year’s semi-finalists Germany’s Aurubis HAMBURG opened their campaign in the 2014 edition of the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Women by edging in five sets (25-17, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, and 15-10) Doprastav BRATISLAVA of Slovakia after 112 minutes of play. 656 fans were in attendance at the CU Arena for the home debut of the players around head coach Helmut von Soosten.
Aurubis started out strong (4:0) right from the go and they only needed 24 minutes to cash the opening set (25-17) as their attack was anchored by team captain Imke Wedekind. Aurubis caught a very good start also in the second set (4:1) but Doprastav flipped the charts around already by the first technical time-out (6:8). The guests had a margin of four points by the second mandatory stop before the hosts clawed back to cut their deficit to a minimum (17:18). However, Doprastav changed gear once more (17:21) and even though HAMBURG drew level at 23 all, the next couple of points were claimed by the players from Slovakia (23-25).
Aurubis trailed 1:8 in the early phases of the third set and even though they could find back their game later on, they still could not compensate for that disastrous start and lost the set 22-25. HAMBURG trailed also in the fourth set (1:4) but eventually regrouped and fired back to flip the tables around (12:11). Aurubis imposed their supremacy and called for the tie-break after cashing the fourth set with the score of 25-18.
The hosts started superbly in the deciding set (5:1) and had a margin of four as teams changed sides of the court. The guests from Slovakia did not give in but in the end it was Aurubis that had the upper hand (15-10) for a 3:2 victory.
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