16/01/2014 19:56
Kim propels Fenerbahce to straight victory in Finland
2014 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women
Salo, Finland, January 16, 2014. Korean superstar Kim Yeon-Koung anchored Turkey’s Fenerbahce SK ISTANBUL to a straight victory over Finland’s LP SALO (25-23, 25-13, and 25-9) in the first round of the CEV Volleyball Cup 1/4 finals. Kim – MVP of the Volleyball tournament at the 2012 London Olympics – scored 21 points all alone and made only two mistakes along the way to this straight victory. The return game is scheduled for next week and will take place on Wednesday, January 22, at the Burhan Felek Volleyball Hall. The winners of this double header will get to play Agel PROSTEJOV of the Czech Republic in the Challenge Round.
Finland’s multiple champions LP SALO started the game with a very good pace and even set the tempo towards the end of the opening set (21:20) before some world-class actions by Kim helped Fenerbahce SK cruise to the final 23-25. The second and third sets turned into an easy task for the Turkish heavyweight with Kim well supported by US American setter Alisha Glass and Czech spiker Aneta Havlickova along the way to the final 3:0.
“We had a long break because of the World Champs qualifiers in early January and initially we found it difficult to get into the rhythm of the game” commented Fenerbahce head coach Marcello Abbondanza. “And actually we started off making many mistakes. LP SALO played aggressive in the first set but afterwards they did not show the same energy any longer. We could hit well over their block and this solved many problems. We got better and better and this 3:0 victory is a very important result for us.”
“This time we were ready to take on this challenge after last year we did not stand a chance with Dinamo KRASNODAR in the semis of the Challenge Cup” said LP SALO mentor Kari Raatikainen. “They were hitting over our block and this made things almost impossible for our defense. We lost concentration in the second set by the time that Kim was serving. It is hard to keep up your spirits if your opponents are leading by a wide margin. Havlickova and especially Kim were simply superb today.”
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