18/12/2013 20:19
Tomis CONSTANTA pockets ticket to CEV Cup Challenge Round
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Constanta, Romania, December 18, 2013. Romania’s Tomis CONSTANTA – one week after sweeping pre-favorite Halkbank ANKARA in Turkey – claimed also their last game in the prelims of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men to cement their third place in Pool F after edging Austria’s Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK 3:1 (25-12, 25-15, 26-28, and 25-20). That was the third victory for Tomis in the competition and the guys from the Black Sea will continue their adventure in the European Cups playing the Challenge Round of the CEV Volleyball Cup after Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE surprisingly lost their last game in Pool G to Galatasaray FXTCR ISTANBUL.
That magic night for Tomis started really good with their opposite Martin Nemec showing superb play in attack as well as from the service line. Tomis quickly got to the front in the opening set (10:7) and did not stop pressuring their Austrian guests (16:10). The home heroes pocketed the first set with the terrific score of 25-12 to set the tone of a night to remember for more than 1,000 fans in attendance.
The home team showed a very good pace also in the second set with their setter Andrey Zhekov distributing many balls to Spanish wing-spiker Israel Calderon Rodriguez. Tomis set the pace of the game from the start up to the end (8:4, 16:11) to cash a 2:0 lead in sets (25-15).
Tomis started off very aggressive also in the third set (6:2) but this time Hypo Tirol was able to keep the score a little tight. Though Romania’s champions were up 16:13 and then 19:16, they missed out on five match balls (24:19) before their opponents completed an amazing comeback by calling for a fourth set (26-28).
This time, however, Tomis did not lose control of the game (8:5, 16:12) and helped by their fans the home heroes finished it off at 25-20 with 2007 European champion Calderon Rodriguez being once more one of their best players.
“We played really well tonight and we always set the pace of the game with the only exception being the last section of the third set where my players suffered from lack of concentration but we recovered quickly” said a happy head coach Martin Stoev.
“Tomis deserved this victory tonight and I think that if Nemec had played also in the first three rounds of the prelims, they could have made the Playoffs 12” commented the assistant coach of Hypo Tirol, Romanian-born Razvan Daniel Gavan.
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