Austria loses the last match of league round to Czech Republic – Volleyball News
Austria got defeated by Czech Republic on Saturday. The two teams met in the last match of 2012 CEV Men’s European League preliminary round.
Republican squad displayed a stellar feat and posted 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-20) victory over Austria, which was labelled as host of the match. Austrian city Hard provided the backdrop for the match, which attracted more than 500 fans. Success moved Czech Republic to a win/loss record of 6-6, while Austria ended up with an overall record of 5-7.
David Konecny played an instrumental role in Czechs’ victory as he contributed match-high 17 points. For Austria, Thomas Zass claimed team-high 15 points.
Austria caught a good start in the match and added early points, while Czech Republic was yet to break the ice. Up till 9-8, the hosts remained ahead of visitors. However, the Republicans struggled and went up at 10-9. In this regard, Konecny put up huge effort. Once the visitors attained better status they never looked behind. Czechs led the score all the way till end and secured first set, 25-18.
In the second set, raged-up Austrian team produced deadly aces and killing spikes. Czech Republic trailed behind at the FTT with four-point deficit (4-8). Czechs tried to catch up with the hosts but faced utmost resistance from the opposite side. Austrian triple blocks dismissed many of the attack attempts of Czech players. Nonetheless, Czechs did not lose heart and continued putting more and more effort. Finally, the hard work paid off and they closed second set with a small margin of two points, 27-25.
Czech Republic did not allow Austria to take lead for single time in the third set. The visitors kept the game in hand and stamped 25-20 win in third set. Czechs emerged successful in the match and celebrated their victory.
Stewart Bernard, the head coach of Czech Republic, was overjoyed with the sense of accomplishment. He stated, “We really wanted to win this game as clearly as possible to preserve some chances to qualify to the final four waiting for the results of the other Pool. I am happy because today we showed good consistency in our play”.
“Our start was just awful and our service did not work at all, while the reception was not that good too. We lost the second set after a very close run and that determined the fate of the game. Anyway, we have accomplished our mission to win five matches in this edition of the European League,” said Austrian spiker Alexander Berger after the match.
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