Asseco Resovia Rzeszow – team
The hosts started the game very focused and determined to show off their superiority from the first ball. They rapidly sailed to a 9-point lead (14:5) and could control the game imposing their rhythm of play. Moreover, the Romanian players committed a lot of mistakes and had huge problems with the first attack after their reception. Nevertheless, after the second technical time-out (16:6) Asseco Resovia seemed to lose concentration and as a result Remat ZALAU managed to score 5 points in a row and cut the margin (23:17) but ultimately Nikola Kovacevic silvered the last ball at 25-17. Unfortunately for the show, both teams couldn’t be satisfied with their efficiency in attack (39% for Asseco Resovia and 25% for Remat ZALAU).
In the second set Asseco Resovia quickly gained a safe advantage (10:6 after a block on Laurentiu Birau) that grew up to 6 points (20:14 after an impressive block on Silmar de Almeida). However, similarly to the previous set, at the end of this section the hosts couldn’t maintain their level of play making a lot of mistakes (7 in this part of the game) and let the Romanians close the gap (21:19, 23:22). Once again Nikola Kovacevic silvered the last spike at 25-23.
The plot did not change at the beginning of the third section in which the home team rapidly went on 15:7 thanks to smart floating service by Piotr Nowakowski and successful counter-attacks by Jochen Schöps and Aleh Akhrem. One more time the Romanian players could benefit from silly mistakes committed by the hosts (22:19) but ultimately Jochen Schöps sealed the affair at 25-21 from the right-wing.
More than 3’500 supporters in Podpromie sports hall did not see a big spectacle but could be pleased with another victory of their team in this edition of the CEV Volleyball Champions League, the first in front of the local crowd.
“The most important thing is that we gained three points and didn’t have to play more than 3 sets” stated Aleh Akhrem, Asseco Resovia captain.
“We wanted to perform better but with our poor efficiency in attack that is our biggest problem since the beginning of the season we couldn’t do more. Despite our difficulties we were very close to extend the second set where at the end we committed two easy mistakes. Resovia was too strong for us at the moment. The next two games against Arago de SETE will be crucial for us if we want to score points in this Pool” stressed Mariusz Sordyl, mentor of Remat ZALAU.
“I admit that our level of play wasn’t impressive. On the other hand, the opponents didn’t force us to play better. Our goal was to get a victory for 3 points and we achieved it” concluded Andrzej Kowal, the head coach of the home team.
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