League Cup 2022
The final
Chernivtsi. Arena "PVLU". December 22.
"Epicenter-Podolyany" - VC "Prometey" - 3:2 (23:25, 25:15, 22:25, 25:20, 15:10).
"Epicenter-Podolyany": Volodymyr Ostapenko, Yevhenii Kiciliuk, Andrii Rohozhyn, Serhii Yevstratov, Nikolai Penchev, Yurii Tomyn, Horden Brova (L) - starting line-up; Volodymyr Sydorenko, Vladyslav Didenko, Ivan Raich, Oleksandr Koval, Oleksandr Nalozhnyi.
VC "Prometey": Dmytro Shapoval, Dmytro Yanchuk, Ivan Kryvobok, Serhii Riabov, Oleksandr Hladenko, Denys Veletskyi, Oleksandr Boiko (L) - starting line-up; Vadym Patratii (L), Vitalii Shchytkov, Oleksandr Tomilin, Heorhii Klepko, Eduard Shteryk, Taras Oleksiuk.
In the decisive match of the "Budinvest" League Cup, "Epicenter-Podolany" from Horodok and "Prometey" from Dnipro met on the court. The composition of the finalists did not look sensational, as these two teams are currently the best in Ukrainian volleyball. At the same time, on the eve of the ticket to the semi-finals, "MHP-Viyinitsa" could have won as well, however, "Prometey" also fully deserved the victory over them on the tie-break.
This was already the third confrontation between the teams of Andrii Levchenko and Mariusz Sordyl in December. "Epicenter" celebrated success twice, but in both cases, the failures did not have any fatal consequences for "Prometey". Today, however, as in the previous days of the tournament, the opponents had no right to make a mistake.
The confrontation became a real decoration of the League Cup! It had many sharp plot twists and it took the maximum number of sets to determine the winner. The match started rather unexpectedly with a powerful rush of one of the teams: "Prometey" took five rallies in a row. The head coach of "Epicenter" Mariusz Sordyl took a time-out, after which his team began to gradually enter the game. However, "Prometey" kept its opponent at a distance for a significant part of the set. Only in the second half of the set, his team was able to equalize the score - 17:17, thanks to the powerful serves of the outside hitter "Epicenter" Yevhenii Kisiluk. At the same time, Yevhenii himself recorded two aces in his asset. And yet, "Prometey" never once allowed the opponent to take the lead and, from this point of view, absolutely deservedly took the opening set - 25:23.
Epicenter started the second set much more confidently than the first, leading 4:1, 10:6. In the second half of the set, the championship leader increased his handicap to 5 points (14:9). It was at this moment that the unconditional leader of "Prometey" Vitalii Shchytkov appeared on the court for the first time in this match. Several of his signature passes were effective, but the Dnipro team failed to save the set, and the score in the match was tied - 1:1.
In the debut of the third set, "Epicenter" continued to dominate – 3:0, 8:4, 13:8. The actions of the players of "Prometey" clearly lacked the confidence that was inherent in them in the first set. The necessary rhythm for the Dnipro team appeared already in the second half of the set. At first, they reduced their deficit to two points several times, then the score became even (16:16), and it was "Prometey" that came to the "finish line" of the set as the clear favorite (21:18, 23:20). Andrii Levchenko's team got the right to three set points at once and took a 2:1 lead on the second attempt for the second time in this confrontation.
The debut of the fourth set, like the previous two, was for the Podolians - 7:2. For its part, in the first half of the set, "Prometey" twice reduced its deficit to two points (8:10, 9:11), but lost it with a difference of 4 (9:13). In the second half, Mariusz Sordyl's team increased their handicap to "+7" (21:14) and by and large it became clear that they will take this very important set. However, the Dnipro team managed to get within 3 points (19:22), but too much was lost before that. "Epicenter" won the set with a score of 25:20, achieving a tie-break.
In the debut of the decisive game, "Prometey" led twice with a difference of 3 points (3:0, 4:1), but allowed the opponent to take the lead (7:6, 8:7). At the beginning of the second half of the set, "Epicenter" already led "+3" four times, and after Vladyslav Didenko's ace, they got the right to have 4 set points, realizing the first of them.
"Epicenter-Podolyany" is the winner of the League Cup 2022!
