Iraklis winning streak snappede in 3rd leg of 2012 CEV Champions League Prelims (Men)
The Turkish Men’s team, Arkas Izmir, proved to be a too much for the Greek Iraklis Thessaloniki in the third leg of 2012 CEV Volleyball Champions League Prelims. The Turks shook off the Greek defence and posted 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-23) victory. The match
was hosted by Turkey on Wednesday, December 14 and around 2,500 spectators showed up at the arena, most of which were local fans. The hosts used the competitive edge and ousted visiting Iraklis in straight sets. Victory enabled the Turks to get hold of the
second place in the provisional standings of Pool A.
In the opening set of the match, Arkas set the tone with a delivery of powerful serves and strong hits. They added quick points and picked up a lead at 8-6. By the time, the set reached second technical timeout, Turks rallied from 8-6 to 13-10. Meanwhile,
the visiting squad hit back and tried to catch up with Arkas. They came really close to Turkey at 16-17 but failed to carry the momentum later on. Turks made a quick move and achieved set points at 25-19.
The game progressed in the same fashion in the following frame. Turks started off better and did not allow the opposite side to come out the blues. However, Greeks levelled the count at 18-19, which created a bit of suspense for the home audience. Thanks
to the duo of Burutay Subasi and Liberman Agamez who killed the pressure. They pushed the Greeks back and helped Arkas to win second set in row, 25-21.
Iraklis, which was already upset by the loss of two straight sets, regrouped, and came from different angles and used various tactics to make a difference in the third set. They showed good spirit but Arkas led the way with 15-12 lead at the first technical
timeout. Iraklis got back on track and went up at 19:18 and 21:19. However, Arkas bounced back in the game and claimed third set 25-23. Turks emerged as winners and celebrated victory.
Post-match
Glenn Hoag, the mentor of Iraklis, was satisfied with his team’s outstanding performance. He said: “We are very happy with this win. We put a lot of pressure with our serving; the situation is still very open in our Pool and we look forward to the return
match with Iraklis next week in Turkey.”
On the other hand, Iraklis mentor Sotirios Drikos regretted the loss of match but he congratulated the winning squad for putting up such great show of volleyball. In his view, Iraklis deserved to win as Greek side made too many mistakes.
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