15/02/2015 21:56
Russia’s Lions determined to fight back after losing first match up with Halkbank
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Belgorod, Russia, February 15, 2015. After losing the away match by 1:3, Russia’s Belogorie BELGOROD have a tough task ahead if they want to stay in the race to retain the title they won last year in the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men. The Russian Lions probably played their worst match so far this season and now they are ‘obliged’ to score a 3:0 or 3:1 home victory on Tuesday to go for the golden set and keep alive their chances to make the Playoffs 6.
Last Tuesday Belogorie lost the remake of last year’s final match and even though Halkbank delivered a spectacular performance before their fans, still BELGOROD helped the Turks very much with their 41 mistakes, with as many as 30 coming from the service line. If they want to continue their campaign in Europe’s elite competition, the Lions will have to seize the night on Tuesday at Cosmos sports hall and win also the golden set that would follow to make it a step closer towards their qualification for the Final Four tournament scheduled for March 28-29 in Berlin, Germany.
The situation is particularly difficult for Belogorie as the team has to cope with the tight schedule of the Russian Superleague. Back home from Ankara, the players of Belogorie had to fly to Siberia for an away match with Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK on Saturday and therefore they hardly had the chance to recover or relax. Still head coach Gennady Shipulin decided that some of his starting players – Sergey Tetyukhin, Taras Khtey, Dmitriy Muserskiy (pictured), György Grozer, Dragan Travica and Roman Bragin – would skip the match with Lokomotiv in order to focus on the return game with Halkbank.
Though it won’t be an easy mission to accomplish, the fans – and also the bookmakers – in Belgorod are confident that their heroes can achieve this turnaround. Russia’s Volleyball legend Sergey Tetyukhin says: “Of course we made things quite difficult for us after losing the first match in Turkey. However, this is not the first time that we find ourselves in such situation and I am confident that our team spirit and our determination to avenge this defeat will help us claw our way back. We will be fighting as a compact, solid and strong team.”
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