16/02/2016 20:06
CIVITANOVA thrash IZMIR to start Playoffs 12 with a bang
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Izmir, Turkey, February 16, 2016. The programme of the Playoffs 12 in Europe’s elite competition, i.e. the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men, started on Tuesday night with a show of strength delivered by Italy’s standout Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA to outclass Turkey’s national champions Arkas IZMIR in three straight sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-19). After suffering a major upset in the semis of their national cup, Cucine Lube are back on track and with this result they seem to have already set their sights on the Playoffs 6.
The Italians claimed an early lead already by the first technical time-out of the opening set (8-5) and after the break they stepped up their efforts to make it 16-12 as the actions were stopped again. Though they were passionately supported by their fans and looked very motivated, the hosts could not keep the pace of their opponent and CIVITANOVA ended up cashing the first set by 25-20.
Arkas IZMIR finally found their way into the match but CIVITANOVA were soon able to pile up a narrow lead in the second set (8-6) and stayed on top of things also at the second technical time-out (16-13). There was no way the hosts could stop the triumphal march of the Italians who sealed their second set win at 25-21.
Arkas and Cucine Lube played with a lot of intensity also in the third set but the Italians were simply too much to stand for Turkey’s national champions and the match came to an end at 25-19 for a massive 3-0 win for CIVITANOVA.
“Our opponent put a lot of pressure on us with their service,” Arkas IZMIR head coach Glenn Hoag said. “We should be more patient but we have a number of young players on our roster. The Italians made fewer mistakes and we, on the other hand, were not able to execute our game plan. We should have been more patient in order to find a way through their blocks. They have a lot of experienced players and this of course is an advantage they can rely on.”
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