09/03/2015 19:19
Khimik set their sight on historic qualification to Challenge Cup semis
2015 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Women
Yuzhny, Ukraine, March 9, 2015. Ukraine’s four-time national champions Khimik YUZHNY are only one step away from writing a piece of history for their country as on Tuesday night they host Norway’s Stod Volley STEINKJER for the second leg of quarter-final action in the 2015 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Women. Last week Khimik cruised to a 3:0 away win in Norway and already on the following day the Ukrainians started their preparations for the home match coming up on Tuesday night.
Khimik’s head coach Sergei Holotov wants his players to remain focused and to raise the level of their performance even higher in order to make the semis. “We won the first match because my players served really well – in the end we recorded as many as 15 aces whilst our opponents had only two. However, we did not play as good in the other fundamentals and I think we still have room for improvement, especially at attacking,” Holotov says.
The setter of Khimik, Oleksandra Peretiatko – who in 2011 won the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup wearing the shirt of Azerrail BAKU – adds: “Our opponents did not really stand a chance last week. We pressured their receivers and this way they could not set up their fast play. The match coming up here in Yuzhny is very important for our team and that is why we have to perform even better than we did last week in Norway.”
Whilst Khimik could focus entirely on their preparations for the home match, Stod Volley played another game this weekend and Norway’s champions routed RANDABERG IL in three sets before boarding the plane to southern Ukraine. “We will fight for a victory in this second match but we know it is going to be difficult because Khimik is a strong team,” says the Portuguese-born head coach of Stod Volley, André Fernando Sá.
The eventual winner of the quarter-final starring Khimik and Stod Volley will be playing in the semis Russia’s Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG or Greece’s AON Pannaxiakos NAXOS.
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