25/01/2016 09:44
Czech champions want a win to please their fans in make-or-break bout for Chemik
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Prostejov, Czech Republic, January 25, 2016. Czech champions Agel PROSTEJOV are going to end their campaign in this year’s European Cups. The match for the sixth round of action in Pool C of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women between Agel PROSTEJOV and Chemik POLICE is scheduled for Wednesday, January 27, at 4:30 pm at DDM Sports Centre in Prostejov. And it is definitely not going to be a cakewalk for neither of the teams!
The truth is that the Czech ladies can no longer make it out of Pool C or go to the Challenge Round of the CEV Volleyball Cup, but they still long to show their faithful fans the best they can do. Actually, that’s exactly what they achieved last week in Istanbul after four quite heavy losses as they had three match points and almost claimed a sensational 3-1 win over last year’s gold medallists Eczacibasi VitrA. They finally wasted their match points and suffered a 2-3 loss to the defending champions but they definitely left a massive impression. And now they would like to do the same at home.
“We all were very happy with our excellent performance in Turkey. Everybody keeps talking about our great success from last year criticising our current form. At least we proved that, with this year’s roster, we are also able to play great Volleyball and reach the level of the heavyweight teams competing in the Champions League. Of course, we cannot guarantee that our next match against Chemik will end up in the same way or that we will even beat the Poles, but we will definitely give it a try,” says Miroslav Cada, the head coach of Agel PROSTEJOV.
Cada’s squad has nothing to lose in the upcoming clash. On the other hand, POLICE are going to go for broke in the Czech Republic. Why? Chemik suffered a heavy 3-1 home loss to Italy’s Pomì CASALMAGGIORE in their previous match and now they are only ranked third in Pool C. And, as they have the budget and the ambitions to make it all the way to the Final Four and possibly win the competition, they first must advance to the Playoffs 12, and to make it happen they will have to win on Wednesday. If they lose, they will leave the competition and move to the Challenge Round of the CEV Volleyball Cup.
“We might have a small advantage because we can play a relaxed game. We do not have to win, we just want to give our maximum. But Chemik realises that they have to fight for life and that means a lot of mental stress. On the other hand, they have a star-studded team and their world-class players are supposed to be able to deal with this kind of pressure because all their goals are incredibly high. Anyway, the Poles are still considered as the red-hot favourites of this clash and we can only make a surprise,” Cada continues.
The roster of the current Polish champions features outside-spiker Helena Havelkova, the key player of the Czech national team, and other amazing athletes: outside spiker Anna Werblinska, middle blocker Stefana Veljkovic from Serbia and opposite Madelaynne Montano from Colombia. “As I say: all of their players are excellent. But I still believe that, just like in Turkey, we have the potential to play a close game, even though they are much stronger on paper. What we need is to deliver a good performance again, both in serving and reception, and then we will be able to do well in attacking and in defence as well. We just hope that we have not lost the support of our fans after the previous defeats and that the hall will be crowded again. We definitely want to please our fans as much as possible,” the Czech coach concludes.
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