Diatec Trentino – team
Osmany Juantorena and Emanuele Birarelli each recorded 15 points to spearhead the winners while Matey Kaziyski added 14.
Valentin Bratoev and Mikko Oivanen each recorded 20 points for Al-Rayyan while Sirianis Mendez and Rodrigo Santana added 12 and 10 respectively.
Birarelli and Juantorena contributed 6 and 4 blocks to the total of 16 registered by Trentino against 11 of Al-Rayyan. The defeated side led in service winners 7-5 but made also 39 errors to 23 by the winners.
Trentino led 8-5 behind the offense of Birarelli and Kaziyski. The Italian club stayed ahead but only by one point 16-15 at the second pause as Oivannen and Bratoev were steady producers for the Al-Rayyan forces. The combo of the local team continued to pound the opposition and finished with 6 and 5 points as Al-Rayyan won the first set 25-22.
The technical time out found Trentino in front 8-4 and 16-12. The three-time defending champions established their playing rhythm and stayed with a comfortable lead despite the effort of a rival Al-Rayyan who battled showing a lot of desire. The blocking of Birarelli and Vieira were key ingredients for the 25-18 result.
Two consecutive spikes of Juantorena after a bomb by Stokr broke a tie at 4-all giving Trentino a 7-4 lead and forcing a time-out by the opponent in the third set. One mistake of Al-Rayyan followed to dish out Trentino an 8-4 advantage. The Italian side seemed to lose the focus and rhythm and Al-Rayyan tied at 14-all behind Bratoev overall skills as hitter and blocker. The block by Birarelli broke a tie for a 16-15 Trentino’s advantage. The score tied at 19-all with a solid spike of Al- Rayyan’s Lee, but Juantorena recovered the lead. Oivannen’s attack was wide. Kaziyski was blocked for a tie at 21-21 and Trentino’s error gave Al-Rayyan the one-point lead. Bratoev then produced two big smashes and Al-Rayyan finally took the set 25-23 when Rodrigo hit one down the middle.
Trentino held an 8-4 lead at the first TTO and expanded it to 16-9 on the shoulders of Juantorena. Bratoev’s spike and a serve by Rodrigo cut the difference to 17-12. Sirianis Mendez caught momentum and was producing terrific spikes for the local club but the score was still wide open at 20-14. Uchikov levitated to hit a laser shot for the Italian side but then continued with an erratic serve. At 24-17 Bratoev served too long and Trentino won the set 25-17 to force a tie-breaker.
The score was tied at 2-2 after a kill down the middle by Rodrigo. Al-Rayyan took the lead 3-2 with a block by Bratoev but Juantorena tied it at 3-all. Mendez gave Al-Rayyan a 5-3 advantage with a thundering spike from the left side forcing a time-out of Trentino. Mendez attacked too long and Juantorena scored with a tip for a 5-5 score. Birarelli scored with a block to Mendez for a 6-5 lead of Trentino and Al-Rayyan called a time-out. Mendez attacked wide and the lead expanded to two points. Then Oivannen’s killing attempt was long to give Trentino the 8-5 lead. Uchikov scored with another block and Juantorena hit off the block for the 10-5 advantage. Oivanen reduced the distance to four points but Kasiyski answered back for the 11-6 difference and Juantorena followed with an ace. Uchikov finished the set with a cross court spike for the score 15-9.
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