CD Ribeirense
CD Ribeirense opened strong going up 5:1 and 8:4 on good serving contributed by Luana Gomes; however, GDC Gueifães could close that initial gap and eventually flipped the charts around moving to the front at 13:12. Joana Ferreira, Viviane Isidoro and Catarina Costa did set the pace for GDC (16:13) bringing it home at 26-24.
After a nervous start, CD Ribeirense dictated the tempo of the game at the first technical time-out of the second set (8:5); once more their opponents could fight their way back drawing level at 12 all. Joana Ferreira and Cindia Amorim anchored their respective sides but this time it was CD Ribeirense that ultimately had the upper hand for the provisional 1:1 (25-23).
CD Ribeirense imposed their pace in set 3 going up by as much as 9 points (19:10); Gueifães did claw back once more (22:21) but the final rush was fully dominated by Ribeirense that cashed that section of the game with the score of 25-22.
Ribeirense stretched that momentum to the early phases of the fourth set (5:1) before GDC could level the score at 12 all. After that, Ribeirense could claim another positive break (17:13) anchored by Luana Gomes and Fabiola, with the final 25-20 and 3:1 following a few minutes later.
Fabiola Gomes and Luana Gomes top scored for Ribeirense with 23 and 16 points respectively while Marta Hurst and Joana Ferreira topped the charts for Gueifães with 17 and 15.
“As they had finished second for three times, I did expect our opponents to be really determined to claim the title” CD Ribeirense head coach Paulo Barreto says. “We knew this was a game where the emotional side would have impacted on the quality of our play; therefore we had worked on this in our lead-up to the game and this worked out just fine. We did not play our best but still that was enough to win and therefore I have to congratulate my players as well as the coaching staff”.
“We believe that you shall always go for a win, that’s our motto” GDC Gueifães mentor Nuno Costa adds. “We started out well and pressured our opponents. The second set was very close but in the end it was taken by our opponents and this somehow determined the fate of the game. We started out slowly in the third set while their experience was crucial in the fourth. Though we lost I am still pleased that we showed we’re on the right track and we will now focus on the national league, our priority for the remainder of the season”.
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