11/03/2015 23:30
Knack ROESELARE fight bravely but TRENTINO ultimately progress to CEV Cup semis
2015 CEV Volleyball Cup – Men
Roeselare, Belgium, March 11, 2015. In a remake of the match contested last week in Italy, Energy T.I. Diatec TRENTINO edged past Belgium’s champions Knack ROESELARE by 3:2 (25-16, 17-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-6) to claim a spot in the semis of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Cup – Men and play there Poland’s Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE.
There was a lot of anticipation around this match with more than 2,000 fans in attendance at the Schiervelde sports hall in Roeselare as the home heroes were chasing their dream of making the next-to-last stage of the CEV Volleyball Cup. That goal was shared also by TRENTINO and the Italians were off to a flying start (4:8) in the opening set with the score then moving up to 8:16 as their setter Lukasz Zygadlo regularly opted for star outside spiker Matey Kaziyski to close the rally. Knack struggled in reception and TRENTINO broke away to a 22:13 lead with some more attacks killed by their Slovak opposite Martin Nemec. Local rising star Tomas Rousseaux was able to fend off two set balls for TRENTINO but the set eventually came to an end at 16-25 for the Italians.
Knack responded with a terrific 8:2 run in the opening stage of the second set with Matthijs Verhanneman working really well at blocking. TRENTINO, on the other hand, did not show the same quality and consistency they had delivered in the first set and the duo Kaziyski-Nemec ended up being replaced by Michele Fedrizzi and Gabriele Nelli. This move did not deliver the desired effects with Verhanneman closing out the second set at 25-17 for Knack ROESELARE.
Knack continued to play strong also in the third set claiming an early 6:1 lead also on two aces scored by Rousseaux. However, TRENTINO’s youngster Gabriele Nelli anchored the Italians’ comeback cutting the deficit to only one point (7:6). Still, after the first technical time-out, once again Knack ROESELARE got back control of the game and with a superb match played by their libero Stijn Dejonckheere moved the score up to 16:10 at the second mandatory stop. The ambiance was getting quite hot on the Italian side of the net with TRENTINO’s coach Radostin Stoytchev eventually receiving a red card by the score of 21:16 for his continuous protests. Again Knack ROESELARE showed nerves of steel and Matthijs Verhanneman brought also this set to an end, this time at 25-19, with a terrific pipe attack.
After a close start of the fourth set, the score remained tight up to 17:18; Knack was almost close to cause a sensation but a few mistakes helped TRENTINO move up to 20:23 and Argentinean Sebastian Solé sealed the final 20-25 with blocks on Joppe Paulides and Eemi Tervaportti.
The tie-break followed a similar plot up to 5:6 and the score stood at 8:5 TRENTINO’s way as the teams switched sides of the court following two points scored by Kaziyski and Filippo Lanza. After that Knack ROESELARE ran out of fuel and the Italians comfortably cruised to a 6-15 set win to secure their spot in the semis of the CEV Volleyball Cup.
“We had two fantastic matches but we got to play a very experienced team with a few outstanding players,” commented the young assistant coach of Knack ROESELARE, Steven Vanmedegael, after the home loss. “We played a fantastic Challenge Round where we showed the attitude and mentality of a united team. We needed this kind of matches to improve our level and get ready for the remainder of the domestic season. From now on our focus will turn exclusively to the Playoffs of the Belgian national league.”
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
|