18/02/2015 16:16
Russian Express cruises to second straight win over Romania’s champions to seal Playoffs 6 ticket
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men
Novosibirsk, Russia, February 18, 2015. Russia’s Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK claimed on Wednesday the second spot at stake for joining the Playoffs 6 of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men after routing once more Romania’s champions Tomis CONSTANTA in three sets (25-13, 25-14, 25-21) as they had done also last week on the shores of the Black Sea. The 2013 gold medallists will now wait for the outcome of the match starring Poland’s Asseco Resovia RZESZOW and Germany’s VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN to get to know the name of their last competitor on the way to the Final Four tournament scheduled for March 28-29 in Berlin, Germany.
Lokomotiv had already made a huge step forward on the way to the Playoffs 6 after recording a 3:0 away victory in Romania last week. Tomis travelled to Siberia with their second lines and this way they could hardly stand a chance in their match up with the Russian Express. Things started immediately in the best way for Lokomotiv and the attacks killed by opposite Denis Zemchenok and outside spiker Oreol Camejo propelled them to a 16:6 lead at the second technical time-out of the opening set. As his side trailed by 8:20, Tomis assistant coach Radu Began – this time replacing head coach Martin Stoev on the bench – took a time-out and his guys responded by scoring three points in a row. However, that was all they could achieve and the set quickly ended in a massive 25-13 for the home side.
Tomis CONSTANTA could only score two points before the first technical time-out was called in the second set; Lokomotiv continued to keep the pace high with blocks by setter Alexander Butko and middle blocker Alexander Abrosimov. However, step by step Tomis found a way to cope with the terrific serves of Lokomotiv and Russian mentor Andrei Voronkov stopped the game for the first time by the score of 14:8. After the break, his players regrouped and eventually controlled the remainder of the set all the way through the final 25-12. At this stage, Lokomotiv had secured their ticket to the Playoffs 6.
As it has become quite a tradition, the start of the third set was not the best for the home side that trailed 5:8 at the first technical time-out. Tomis CONSTANTA could keep a two-point lead for most of the set before the last stages turned into an intense and dramatic fight, with Lokomotiv opposite Denis Zemchenok putting the final 25-21 on the scoreboard.
The head coach of Lokomotiv, Andrei Voronkov, said: “Tomis CONSTANTA have come to Novosibirsk with their second team and so the result of this match was quite easy to predict.”
The libero of the home team, Valentin Golubev, commented: “The drop in concentration and focus we suffered after our easy victory last week was one of the problems we had to deal with today.”
Radu Began, who steered Tomis for the second match with the Russian Express, said: “Lokomotiv is a very strong team and they fully deserve to make the next round of this elite competition.”
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