Sada Cruzeiro’s players
The Brazilian club will meet now with Italy’s Trentino Diatec for the gold medal at the annual world club competition.
Douglas Cordeiro led Sada Cruzeiro with 15 points followed by Mauricio Leal’s 11 tallies. Felipe Ferraz and Mauricio Borges each had 10 points while Wallace de Souza and Yadier Sanchez contributed 9 apiece.
Aleksandar Atanasijevic topped all the scorers of the match with 29 points, including four blocks while Michal Winiarski and Mariusz Wlazly added 14 and 13 respectively.
The winners held a 7-2 advantage in aces while the defeated side was better in the blocking category 11-6.
Yoandy Leal was on the spot with three spikes as Sada Cruzeiro took an 8-6 lead over Skra Belchatow in the first set. The spike of De Souza was followed by an ace of Yoandy Leal for the 16-13 advantage. Skra Belchatow kept the score close relying on the offense of Winiarski, Atanasijevic and Wlazly. De Souza attacked for set point at 24-21 and then Winiarski’s attack was long for the 25-21 score.
Atanasijevic’s spikes gave Skra a two-point lead and then blocked Yoandy Leal for a 6-3 margin. Marcos Leal reacted for Sada Cruzeiro but Wlazly responded for the Polish club for the 8-6 difference. The combo of De Souza and Yoandy Leal parlayed spikes for the equalized score at 9-9. Atanasijevic and Cordeiro traded kills. Cordeiro served long and Atanasijevic scored with a soft touch for the 12-10 margin. Wlazly widened the distance to three points but Winiarski’s serve sailed long. Spike and block by Marcos Leal closed the distance to 14-13 but Skra Belchatow led 16-14. Atanasijevic blocked Yoandy Leal and Sada Cruzeiro called for time out trailing 20-17. Sada Cruzeiro closed within one point after several offensive errors but Atanasijevic closed at 25-23 with a thundering attack.
Winiarski broke a 7-7 tie of a well battle in the early stages of the third set. The third set continued to stay close with neither of the teams getting in front for more than two points. At 15-15 Cordeiro scored for the 16-15 Sada’s advantage. At 19-all, Skra was penalized by a net violation. Yadier Sanchez followed with a booming ace. Borges maintained the two-point margin with a big blow. Sanchez missed his serve and then was blocked by Winiarski for a tied score at 22. Ferraz gave Sada the lead and Klos faulted with the attack. Then Atanasijeic’s spike and Plinski’s block tied at 24. Cordeiro gave Sada another chance to close but Winiarski responded on time. Cordeiro attacked again down the middle and the block of Borges to Winiarski gave the set to Sada Cruzeiro 27-25.
In the fourth frame, Sada Cruzeiro jumped to 4-1 and 6-2 leads en route to an 8-3 advantage. The Brazilian club was in front 16-13 at the second technical time-out. An offensive Brazilian fault reduced the distance to 18-16 but Borges restored the three-point distance. Three straight blocks by Plinski, Kooistra and Atanasijevic tied the score at 20-all. Sanchez scored with a tip for 21-20 in favor of Sada but Atanasijevic was spiking very solid. He then served long but recovered with another big hit to even the affaire at 22-22. Winiarski blocked Sanchez for a one-point lead of Skra Belchatow. Ferraz equalised the score but Kooistra scored for set point 24-23 and Plinski landed one from the middle for the 25-23 set.
Borges and Atanasijevic traded kills. Kooistra scored from the centre but Atanasijevic netted his serve for a 2-2 tie. Atanasijevic planted a spike on the back line but Wlazly failed with the serve. Winiarski gave Skra a 4-3 advantage and Kooistra foot-faulted. Vincic committed an attacking fault but De Souza served too long Borges gave Sada the lead at 6-5 only to see Plinski tying again the score. Winiarski missed with the serve but Wlazly responded. At 7-7, De Souza hammered a parallel spike and teams switched sides with Sada in front 8-7. Arjona served an ace. Skra Belchatow called for time-out. When play resumed, De Souza scored off the block for a three-point lead at 10-7 and Arjona continued another ace with an off-speed serve. At 11-8, Atanasijevic crashed his serve and Cordeiro scored with a big block against Atanasijevic. Wlazly failed with the serve and Marcos Leal blocked Winiarski for the final score 15-9.
For more news from the Men’s Club World Championship click here.
