28/01/2015 00:09
Hypo Tirol shatter Precura’s dreams to end season with fabulous home win
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Innsbruck, Austria, January 27, 2015. On Tuesday night Austria’s champions Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK claimed a 3:1 home victory (31-29, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20) over Precura ANTWERP in an exciting and electrifying match to close their campaign in Pool F of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men on a high note.
Manager Hannes Kronthaler said: “The first two sets were hard for us, but the team showed a great effort and was able to play up to its potential. We always said that we had what it takes to win against ANTWERP and it was important for us to show it today. A home victory in the Champions League is always important.”
Head coach Stefan Chrtiansky added: “We played a passionate game today and showed a lot of determination, doing so in the first half of the match with one team and in the second half with a different line up on the court. We were showing a lot of character today and this was very important for us. This is the mentality and the attitude we have to maintain also for our upcoming important goals in the remainder of the season.”
Precura ANTWERP started out strong and played spectacular defence which provided a lead of up to four points in the first set. Hypo Tirol was able to stay in the game and closed the gap towards the end of this set. What followed was maybe one of the deciding phases of the match. The host team tied the score at 23:23 and both sides showed fantastic actions as they played point after point all the way up to 29:29. With a 31-29 INNSBRUCK finished the first set and gained the right momentum for the remainder of the match. After that, the hosts took also a close and exciting game 2 by 25-23 and the atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium was reaching its climax.
ANTWERP kept fighting as they knew that they had to take at least one point in Innsbruck to advance to the Playoff round. They took a quick lead in set 3 and Hypo Tirol head coach Stefan Chrtiansky changed his line up with Alexander Tusch as new setter, Gabriel Soares Pessoa on the outside hitter position and Lorenz Koraimann switched from outside spiker to opposite. Still the Belgians were able to take this set by 25-22.
With the new line up still on the court INNSBRUCK answered right back and was able to take over game 4 from the beginning to close the match with a service winner from Douglas Duarte Souza Da Silva for the final 25-20 and a 3:1 home victory, a perfect way to end this year’s campaign in Europe’s premier competition.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
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