Both underdog teams in the CEV Champions League Pool B Budvanska Rivijera Budva and Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice presented a much better display this week and made their opponents and respectively pool favourites sweat.
Novosibirsk, situated quite far away from continental Europe at the center of the vast Russian Federation, is generally not a desired destination for most Champions League participants. The long journey accompanied with a difficult game against the strong local Lokomotiv make any encounter at the “Sever” sports hall a nightmare. Having lost a week ago their home game in Ceske Budejovice in straight sets and being left with almost no chances to stand out, Jihostroj and their head coach Jan Svoboda were perfectly aware of what had been awaiting them on Tuesday afternoon. The Czech coach gave some rest to his star player Peter Platenik who did not travel with the team. Meanwhile, the other more experienced players and leaders of Jihostroj – the setter Petr Zapletal and the opposite Jakub Novotny, were left on the bench. A group of young Czech players was given the chance to gain some valuable international experience. On the other side of the court there was only one change compared to the squad that swept away Jihostroj a week earlier – Konstantin Sidenko replaced Valentin Golubev as a libero.
Somewhat distracted by the relatively unfamiliar opponents, the Russians started the game a bit too confident. They managed to close the opening set in a good fashion (25-19) but were caught napping in the second one. Great serve skills by the back-up setter Petr Habr and the energetic opposite Michal Krisko and some clever attacks by Andy Rojas and Tomas Fila boosted the Czech enthusiasm as they grabbed the second set. Andrey Voronkov had an immediate answer for the surprisingly successful game of the visitors – Filipp Voronkov (3 aces, 75% attack success) and Viacheslav Makhortov (5 blocks) came on to replace the relatively quiet Marcus Nilsson and Artem Volvich respectively. They provided their head coach with the support he was longing for and gradually Lokomotiv came back victorious after seizing a nerve-racking third-set win (29-27).
Andrey Voronkov recognized the Jihostroj endeavours in the game after his side took a 3-1 win: “It is really true that there are no easy matches in the Champions League. The Czechs played some good volleyball tonight. I am quite satisfied with the result especially since every set is important in this competition”.
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk – Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 29-27, 25-20)
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk: Butko 4, Nilsson 13, Divis 11, Biryukov 14, Volvich 3, Gutsalyuk 9, Sidenko – libero, Makhortov 6, Voronkov 10, Zhilin
Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice: Habr 7, Krisko 15, Rojas 16, Fila 11, Mach 8, Sobotka 7, Juracka – libero, Michalek 1, Sukuba 1, Zapletal
In what turned out to be the best game of the season so far for Budvanska Rivijera Budva, the home side dropped a first Champions League win in 2012-2013 after a 2-1 set advantage. Inspired by their statistically best player Vojin Cacic who once again topped the scorers’ ranking for Budva with his 21 points, the Montenegrin champions fought bravely at home to lead 2-1 after two frantically close sets (25-23, 23-25). Unlike Sinisa Reljic, the Australian head coach Mark Lebedew, facing an eventual defeat, had to change his team’s rotation and some starters. Kawika Shoji and Felix Fischer sat on the bench, while substitutes Sebastian Kuehner and Ricardo Galandi had their mark in Berlin’s great comeback in the next two parts. Both opposites Aleksandar Spirovski and Paul Carroll failed to show perseverance that day so it was all left to the tireless Robert Kromm to lead the German champions with his 26 points – a remarkable score for an outside hitter (56% attack success). Thus, Berlin Recycling Volleys increased their lead ahead of Jihostroj on the provisional second position in Pool B.
“I am evidently not satisfied with the final result but I am very happy with the quality of play we showed tonight” said home coach Sinisa Reljic. “We showed determination, fighting spirit and we really wanted to win but in the end we were not fresh and calm enough to bring it home. We are progressing since the start of the season but the group needs to play at this level for two months in order to display its full potential”.
Budvanska Rivijera Budva – Berlin Recycling Volleys 2-3 (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 13-15)
Budvanska Rivijera Budva: Vujovic 4, Venno 13, Cacic 21, Dukic 10, Suljagic 12, Maksimovic 7, Rasovic – libero, Cuk 1, Petkovic 1, Markovic
Berlin Recycling Volleys: Shoji 2, Spirovski 11, Touzinsky 9, Kromm 26, Fischer 3, Kmet 8, Krystof – libero, Hoehne, Sikiric 1, Galandi 3, Kuehner 4, Carroll 6
Standings:
1 – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, 12 pts, 12-2
2 – Berlin Recycling Volleys, 8 pts, 10-6
3 – Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice, 3 pts, 4-9
4 – Budvanska Rivijera Budva, 1 pt, 3-12
Fifth week schedule:
04.12.2012, Tuesday, Berlin Recycling Volleys – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
05.12.2012, Wednesday, Budvanska Rivijera Budva – Jihostroj Ceske Budejovice
Pictures: CEV
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