Champions League 2024 (Women)
Group E. 6th round. January 16
Mioveni Romania
SC "Prometey" — "Alba Blaj" 3-1 (25:22, 25:20, 16:25, 25:21)
The volleyball players of "Prometey" won over the representatives of the Romanian club "Alba Blaj" in a tense confrontation. This success guaranteed Ukrainians to continue their performances in European Cups. However, in the Champions League or the CEV Cup, it will depend on the other pair of Group E. If "LKS Lodz" wins "Volero Le Cannet", then the "red and whites" will remain in these competitions. Otherwise, they will play in the quarterfinals of the second most prestigious tournament.
Mistakes by Lora Kitipova on the serve and Bogumila Bjarda in the attack allowed Ivan Petkov's wards to take the lead. The fans must've liked the fact that Marta Drpa and company were consistently active in the attack, due to which they scored points again and again. It is also worth noting the service of our athletes, because in a short period of time they earned more than one ace (7:2).
Stevan Lubicic took advantage of two time-outs even before the middle of the set. However, after that, the opposite of our team continued to score goals to her heart's content (15:6). Perhaps the "red and whites" believed in their victory in the first set a little too early, because of which they lost their concentration somewhere. The Romanians knocked out their opponent from the reception and eventually reduced the deficit to three points (19:16).
Then we witnessed several consecutive protracted rallies, which ended in favor of the volleyball players of "Alba". The latter showed an incredible game in defense, getting close to the Ukrainians (22:21). Ivan Petkov took a 30-second break in a timely manner, during which he brought his wards to their senses, and they finally finished what they started - 25:22.
The next set started with an equal struggle. For a long time, none of the teams managed to break away in the score by more than two points (7:7). But it did happen in the middle of the set when the players of "Alba" could not understand each other (11:8). Then Andressa Felix Costa's mistake provoked the coach of the Romanian club to another time-out (16:12).
At the end of the set, the Romanians again added aggressiveness in the attack and returned the intrigue (21:20). Fortunately, the "red and whites" activated their block, which forced the opponents to change their tactics and spike more often. And this is what our athletes were waiting for - 25:20.
The third set was not like the previous two. After all, rivals took the initiative from the start. They noticeably adjusted their sights and began to act more organized over the net, hence the result - 16:25. We also observed a similar situation from the first minutes of the next set (2:5).
The Ukrainians did not give up and soon equalized parity. And the ace of Marta Drpa brought the "Prometey" into the lead (7:6). At a certain moment, Bojana Milenkovic checked the strength of the opponents' block - and one more point for "Prometey" (12:9). But we failed to develop local success. This is when the so-called "swings" began to occur, and the initiative changed hands. In the end, the scales tilted in favor of our team - 25:21.
Starting line-up of SC "Prometey": Meliushkina, Dorsman (c), Bukman, Milenkovic, Drpa, Sharhorodska, Niemtseva (l), Vasylieva (l). Substitutes: Danchak, Khober.
