CEV Champions League 2022/23
Group stage. 3rd round
Kutna Hora (Klimeška). Czech Republic January 10
SC "Prometey" — "Alba Blaj" (Romania) 0-3 (15:25, 22:25, 21:25)
On January 10, in the Czech city of Kutna Hora, a match of the 3rd round of the group stage of the Champions League between the teams "Prometey" and "Alba Blaj" took place. In the battle between Ukrainian and Romanian volleyball representatives, the latter triumphed. Although our sportswomen had a chance to catch at least the set, the experience of their opponents showed themselves in the decisive moments.
It was because of this that the Romanians controlled the course of events on the court for most of the confrontation, starting from the first minutes — 2:5. Despite the long three-point lead of the opponent, Ivan Petkov was in no hurry to take a timeout. And soon, the team of the Bulgarian mentor, thanks to the efforts of Viktoriia Danchak and Oleksandra Milenko, reduced the gap - 9:10.
However, they still failed to equalize parity. At the same time, "Alba" decided to have another spurt: on the serve of Jovana Kocic, who earned two aces at that moment, the score was 11:19. Of course, Petkov tried to break this winning pace with time-outs, but it was unstoppable - 15:25.
"Prometey" needed to forget the previous game as soon as possible, but the opponents with their assertiveness did not allow them to do so - 1:5. During another time-out, the head coach of the "red-and-whites" was finally able to get through to his players, who were already combining more and eventually made a comeback - 6:5. Then came the "swings" - 7:8, 10:9.
After the successful actions of the nominal guests on the block and the mistakes of our athletes in the attack, the intrigue in the set began to melt before our eyes - 15:20. It is known that the strong-willed spirit of the Ukrainians is not to be borrowed, and after a successful shot by Yevhenia Hober, they once again returned to the game - 20:21. Unfortunately, the last word was left to the rivals — 22:25.
The first half of the third set was for Petkov's team, which seems to have found a hole in Alba's defensive redoubts and began to steadily earn points - 11:9. However, in this regard, the Romanians were not far behind - 14:14. Later, Russo's ace, followed by Dimitrova's reset, put the "red and whites" in a difficult position. As it turned out, these rallies became the turning point in this segment — 21:25.
So, this defeat dropped "Prometey" to fourth place in the standings of group B. Another match of our quartet between "Le Cannet" and "Vero Volley" will take place on January 12.
