On fire, Volero LE CANNET shut out Developres RZESZÓW in the first playoff
Recap
The French Volero LE CANNET disappointed the favourites in this playoff pair - Developres RZESZÓW, by clinching a straight-sets victory in the first encounter between the two teams. With a clear 3-0, the players of head coach Mladen Kasic will enter the 2nd leg playoff next week with heads held high and the hopes to proceed ahead, extending their #CLVolleyW journey. Meanwhile, the Polish team will have the difficult task to recover from the tough loss, and all eyes will be on Jelena Blagojevic and her teammates next March, 2.
As many as nine aces played a crucial role for Volero’s success this evening, while their opponents recorded only three points from this element.
On the other Volleyball components, the two teams delivered an equal performance, finishing with 41 winning spikes each and seven kill blocks (each).
The Polish let more own errors affect the score (20), while the French team gave away 13 points.
Anna Kotikova was named MVP of the game, recording as many as 15 points (54% exc. in attack), including one ace. Her teammate, Eva Yaneva was the most successful player on serving, with three aces to her name.
For Developres, Gabriela Orvosova topped the charts with 16 points (40% exc in attack).
The hosts took the leadership position since the very beginning of the first set, and gradually built up a comfortable point difference, opening the match 25-15 in their favour.
As many as 3 kill blocks and 3 aces sealed the deal for Volero in this part, while they performed better on attacking as well.
The beginning of the second set was more balanced, with the teams playing “a cat-and-mouse” game. Following each other in the score throughout the whole time, both Volero and Developres delivered some high-class Volleyball. The fans attending in La Palestre Le Cannet enjoyed the nail-biting #CLVolleyW action until the very last moment of this set, when the home team showed nerves of steel, taking it at 29-27. In this deciding, from a mental point of view, set, it was the better serving by the French that helped them take control of the game. They finished with five aces in this part, while the Polish stormed on the block (four kill blocks), but this wasn’t enough for the guest team to bring back the intrigue.
The precision to the detail played a pivotal role in the third set, as Volero claimed the victory thanks to two more successful attacks (15 to 13 winning spikes) and scoring one more point on their opponents’ errors.
Mladen Kasic“We played a very good game, delivering a very good quality. We were very disciplined in all areas. When we watched the videos, we thought it was going to be very difficult to win against a team like that. We had very good service and the block-defence worked very well, as we agreed. The problem is that we still have a match on Saturday and then, the match in Poland will not be the same, we have to win two sets to qualify. We'll do everything we can.”
Head coach of Volero LE CANNET