Zenit Kazan in Poland and Dinamo Moscow in Cuneo scored two impressive victories in the opening round of the Playoffs 6 of 2011 CEV Champions League. Jastrzebski Wegiel won over Noliko Maaseik in the tie-break.
Jastrzebski Wegiel (POL) – Noliko Maaseik (BEL) 3-2 (17:25, 25:19, 19:25, 25:23, 15:7)
The hosts could not notice a good start in this match. Noliko took the advantage very quickly. After the first time-out for Bernardi Jastrzebski played better, especially thanks to some good attacks of Benjamin Hardy. However, their low efficiency in the service (19% in the 1st set) and good game of Maaseik let the guests win the opening set. From the 2nd set we see another team. Mitja Gasparini scored some aces and started a real battle with the Belgian team finished in the tie-break where the Poles completely destroyed their opponents. The best scorer of Jastrzebski was Gasparini with 18 points, and of Noliko – Jo van Decraen who gained 16 points.
Lorenzo Bernardi said: „Noliko has a long tradition in the European Cups and a number of players competing with their national teams. We felt the pressure and so we did not start that well, but in the end we played a great game. I am really proud of my guys. Our players coming from the bench, like Mitja Gasparini and Marcin Wika, were outstanding. I am happy with this because it means we have very good options in our team”
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (ITA) – Dinamo Moscow (RUS) 1-3 (25:21, 22:25, 22:25, 22:25)
The favorites in this match were the players from Italy. In the sports hall full of the excited fans they were expected to create a great show and beat the Russian team. In fact, the hosts were dominating only in the 1st set where their very strong service caused problems to the Russian defence. From the 2nd set Dinamo was playing in their proper rhythm, they fought for every single ball and their attacks were “unblockable”.
„As the serves of the Italians became less tricky and dangerous, we started playing better in every fundamental, we worked better in attacks and defense and finally won the game. However, with the golden set rule, in Moscow we’ll have another tough task” said Brazilian star Dante Amaral.
PGE Skra Belchatow (POL) – Zenit Kazan (RUS) 2-3 (25:17, 27:29, 25:21, 17:25, 8-15)
In the sports hall in Lodz, where the opening match of the Playoffs 6 was played, some 9,000 polish fans saw a splendid show made by both teams. In the first set Belchatow showed their dominance in every element of the game and destroyed their opponents to 17. In the second set Kazan started building their advantage thanks to strong serves of Maxim Mikhailov and great attacks of Sergey Tetyukhin. 3 aces of Mariusz Wlazly and a total of 10 points weren’t enough to win this set. In the next set there was a battle for every ball. Won by the Poles. The 4th and the 5th set were a knock-out of the Russian team. Strong service of Tetyukhin, great game of William Priddy in block and attack and many points scored by Mikhailov were the key to win this match. The best scorer of the match was Mariusz Wlazly with 27 points (including 5 aces). From Kazan the most efficient was Maxim Mikhailov with 25 points (2 blocks).
Wladimir Alekno said: “I have to start my statement by praising the Polish fans that were just amazing. I am pretty sure that all the players, not only in Europe, but in the world dream to play such a match with such an audience. Today the fans saw a great match and I am very happy that we won. Both teams served really great but we managed to keep our level until the end. These serves made it hard for our opponents to receive well. However, we also made 3-4 mistakes less than Belchatow and that’s why we won”.
From CEV.lu
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