Unfortunately, the Balta team could not do anything against the Azerbaijani team "Azerrail" in the first game of the Challenge Cup, which took place in Baku. The match ended with the victory of our opponents after three played sets.

October 17 (Tuesday)

Challenge Cup 2023/24. The first game

Baku, Azerbaijan (A.Y.S. Sport Hall)

"Azerrail" — SC "Balta" 3-0 (25:18, 25:18, 25:18)

The hosts started the match strongly (4:0), because of which Andrii Romanovych had to take a time-out almost immediately. Having overcome the initial hurdles, the Ukrainians felt their game and soon came close to their opponents - by only two points behind.

Our girls were close to finally turning the tide of the confrontation in their own favor (12:11). But the Azerbaijani players, on experience, added, so to speak, in critical moments. Thus, they also influenced the psychological state of the players of "Balta" - 25:18.

Despite the previous failure, Romanovych's wards felt that they were able to compete with "Azerrail" for the victory. They showed their intentions at the start of the second set, where, thanks to organized actions on the block, they took the lead with a comfortable score (2:5).

It is difficult to explain what happened next on the court. After all, the rivals won 12 rallies in a row (14:5). We would like to mention the opposite Katarina Pilepich, who stably and unerringly performed the serving. In the end, this spurt became decisive in this set — 25:18.

In the third set, the teams were evenly matched for some time (6:6, 9:9). Subsequently, a series of mistakes befell the Ukrainians (18:11). The coaching staff of "Balta" tried to correct the situation with substitutions: two Anastasiias appeared on the court - Strelbytska and Malysheva. The girls did not fail, but they still weren't able to save the match - 25:18. 

Starting line-up of SC "Balta": Volchenko, Ratii, Nohina, Skliarova, Dromova, Horbachenko, Karasova (l).