Beograd comes short in 3-1 loss against Dinamo Moscow – Women’s tournament
Serbian Crvena Zvezda Beograd hosted Russian Dinamo Moscow in the fourth leg of on-going 2012 CEV Champions League Prelims on Wednesday, December 21.
The packed-up Sumice sports hall in Beograd City hosted the match, where visiting team proved to be too good for them.
Dinamo Moscow overcame the pressure of strange audience and stole the show in a four-set play, 3-1. Dinamo made a good start and secured first frame before home team hit the equaliser in following set. However, the last two sets of the match were dominated
by Dinamo and provided an edge to Russians to win the match.
The scoreboard showed the final score of 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14), while Russians were tagged winners.
Grun Angelina of Moscow was named the best player of the match. She totalled 21 points, out of which 18 were scored on spikes. Equally talented Morozova Iuliia did exceptionally well on the defence side and got her hands on match-high 9 blocks.
Beograd did not make a good start in the game. Their feeble attack attempts and weak defence created an opportunity for Moscow squad to hit points after points. Russia’s Angelina was in full form and it seemed as if the ball just needed the touch of her
hands.
She found great rhythm and allowed Russia to secure first set in 20 minutes. Despite various changes made by the Serbian head coach, the team failed to stop Russians from taking away the first set.
Serbian opposite, Ana Bjelica, put up a good effort in the second set and dismissed some of the early attacks of Moscow. The home team returned in the game and picked up a lead of 6-3. On the other hand, the resilient rival Dinamo grasped the game plan of
Serbs and came up with strong back row attack.
They chased the score and pushed Beograd behind the attack line. Dinamo maintained its lead from 7-6 to 22-21. Beograd finally bounced back in the game and managed to win second set, 25-23.
The third set once again featured a shaky performance by home team. Despite winning the previous set, they failed to carry the momentum and gave way to Russian dominance. Dinamo scored well and forced the hosts to avail all of their timeouts.
Nothing could work out and Beograd could not attain lead for a single time in third set. With better combination of attack and defence, Dinamo finished off third set with 25-21 win.
Moscow ladies were all up to put an end to the game in fourth set. Hence, they played fast and remained focused on the target. Crvena Zvezda of Beograd resisted up to the second mandatory stop but eventually gave up. Dinamo Moscow won fourth set and also
declared match victory.
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