03/11/2016 15:58
Two-time CEV Cup winners Dinamo KRASNODAR counting down to CL home debut
2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Krasnodar, Russia, November 3, 2016. A couple of days before the remake of their matchup with Khimik YUZHNY coming up on Saturday, November 5 Russia’s Dinamo KRASNODAR organised a media meeting to set the tone for the first ever CEV Volleyball Champions League match to be contested at Olimp sports hall. The press conference was attended by the head coach and captain of the Russian team, Konstantin Ushakov and Maria Perepelkina.
Ushakov said: “After playing Khimik on Tuesday and claiming a 3-2 victory in Ukraine, we got a lot more information on our opponent. Now we know how they play, what they can do. I made some changes to our preparation process. I would like to stress that I am pleased with the result we achieved in Yuzhny. The game was a challenging one, we were playing away from home but in the end we won by 3-2. After losing two sets my players found the strength to fight their way back. This is really important for the development of the right team spirit. In my opinion, when you play a competition of such a calibre as the CEV Volleyball Champions League, it’s all about your desire to win, to accomplish something.”
The Russian coach continued: “My team consists of good players and there is no need to stress how important the participation in the CEV Volleyball Champions League is for every player, and especially for the younger ones. On top of this, every player will gain valuable experience from this journey. Talking about our goals, I would like to say that if we make it to the group stage, that would be a great result. However, we first have to play the second match with Khimik. They are a dangerous opponent. If we succeed in moving to the third round, we will have to play another team and win with them as well. I think we most probably will play Vizura BEOGRAD from Serbia. Serbian Volleyball has always been a force to reckon with, this country really has strong teams. And after all, in the group stage we would eventually get to play the strongest rivals.”
Team captain Maria Perepelkina (pictured) said: “I would like to congratulate everyone on Tuesday’s victory. It’s good to win such a kind of match. Khimik played very good and we, on the other hand, did not execute everything according to plan. I hope that we will make far fewer mistakes in the second match. Our block did not work almost at all. I do not expect an easy victory. They played the first match at home and maybe they lost a bit of focus for playing before the home crowd. The second match with YUZHNY will be difficult too. We will be playing on home soil and I am expecting a lot of support from our fans. I always knew that Dinamo’s fans are very supportive. They like matches of the European Cups very much and the hall is always full for that kind of matches. I only expect a lot of support from the stands on Saturday.”
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