02/02/2017 16:03
ČEZ KARLOVARSKO account for major sensation with away win in Surgut
2017 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men
Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, February 2, 2017. ČEZ KARLOVARSKO caused probably the biggest sensation in the European Cups this week when rallying to a surprising 3-1 away victory over Gazprom-Ugra SURGUT of Russia in the first round of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Cup – Men 8th Finals. They were able to achieve an unparalleled feat – something which #Dragons LUGANO, Olympiacos PIRAEUS and Dinamo MOSCOW had all failed to accomplish when visiting Surgut.
“This is some good advertisement for Czech Volleyball and especially for our club,” said Czech head coach Jiri Novak. Actually their start to the match was not that promising, with SURGUT taking the first set to live up to their status as pre-favourites. “We started the match with too much respect for our opponents, because everyone knows the quality and level of Russian Volleyball, but after the first set we got rid of the pressure and started playing our game,” said Czech libero Daniel Pfeffer.
Team captain Ondrej Hudecek played a key role in changing the course of the game, addressing his teammates with much passion and a loud voice during the break. Only the players of KARLOVARSKO know what he said, but he definitely contributed to one of the most important successes claimed by a Czech Volleyball team in the last decade.
“We stabilised our game and we showed excellent teamwork which helped us cruise to a great victory in the end,” Jiri Novak said. “However, we realise that we are only halfway through this round and the home match will be even tougher. What happens in two weeks, none can predict it.” Before that, KARLOVARSKO will play three challenging matches in the Czech Extraleague against teams from Kladno, Liberec and Odolena Voda.
The re-match between ČEZ KARLOVARSKO and Gazprom-Ugra SURGUT will take place on Tuesday, February 14. “We are taking a 3-1 victory and three points to the re-match but we still have a lot of hard work ahead if we want to progress to the quarterfinals,” Daniel Pfeffer concluded.
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