France suffers home loss on day-2 of CEV Continental Cup Semi-finals – Volleyball news
Following a wonderful start to the home campaign on Wednesday, the hosts France totally collapsed on the second day of the 2012 CEV Women’s Continental Cup Semi-finals. French duos were challenged by visiting Spaniards, who stole the show with their mesmerising
tactics.
Two sides played a total of three matches, all of which ended in Spain’s favour. The home audience were greatly disappointed by the under-the-par performance of local players. Nonetheless, the true enthusiasts of the game praised the convincing performance
of Spanish women. Spain moved to an overall record of 6-1 in the competition at the end of day-2.
The dynamic Spanish pairing of Liliana-Baquerizo opened the day with a wonderful performance against Hamzaoui-Longuet of France in the first match. The Spaniards came out firing and secured the opening set with six points, 21-15. Both players on the Spanish
team perfectly complimented each other and did not allow the French to come up. The home duo put up an utmost effort in the next frame, in order to save the match. However, Liliana and Baquerizo finished the second stanza at 21-18 and settled for 2-0 win.
The opening affair lasted for 39 minutes.
In the next match, 4th-seeded Simon-Hopf of Spain came into contest with No. 5 French duo of Benhamou-Giaoui. The opening set of the match featured a point-to-point battle. Spain earned two-point advantage and closed the first set at 21-19. Raged-up French
ladies came up with strong offence in the following set and managed to overcome the resilient rivals. They hit the equaliser with second-set win, 21-14. It seemed as if the home team was going to win the match in third set but the situation drastically changed
as Spaniards bounced back. They crushed the hopes of local fans and downed the French opponent in third set, 15-13. Spain improved to an overall record of 2-0 at the end of second match.
Liliana-Baquerizo of Spain returned to action in the third match. They faced off Benhamou-Giaoui in a three-set match. The final set scores were 2-1 (17-21, 21-11, 8-15).
The hosts kicked off the action and secured opening frame of the match, 21-17. Nonetheless, it was the first and only set that French duo captured. The Spaniards took full charge of the game in the next set. They influenced the French ladies both offensively
and defensively. Liliana supplied plenty of power to her shots and devastated the defence line of France. The home duo could only score 11 point in the second set and suffered the set-back.
Spanish side continued with success in the third set and claimed match victory by sending 15-8 on board.
Hamzaoui-Longuet of France and Spain Simon-Hopf were supposed to meet in the fourth match but it ended in forfeit.
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