Romania falls to Poland in the semis of 2012 CEV Challenge Cup – Volleyball news
Romanian men’s volleyball team, the 2004 Tomis Constanta, dropped the decision to Polands’s Politechnika WARSZAWSKA in the semi-final of Challenge Cup on Saturday.
The Polish squad scored 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20) and advanced to the finals. The Arena Ursynów in WARSZAWA, Poland provided the backdrop for the match.
Elsewhere, Tytan AZS CZESTOCHOWA of Poland overpowered Belgium's Prefaxis MENEN in the second semi-final and joined WARSZAWSKA in the final match. Hence, it will be an all-Poland final match but the European sports governing authority (CEV) has not disclosed
the date of final match yet.
The first whistle of referee started things off in the opening set, which proved to be the lengthiest frame of the match. It continued for solid 56 minutes and put both teams to a real test of skills and temperament.
Well equipped with emotional support of fans, the Poles made a good start in the game. They picked up 4-point lead at the first technical timeout, (6-2). As the game resumed, the Romanian hitters gave a tough time to Poles. However, the hosts did not lose
the tempo and sustained the pressure. They kept the lead in hand and continued their passionate feat.
The visitors committed a flurry of mistakes but remained hand-in-hand with the opponents. They created the tie of scores at 11-all, while the home team asked for timeout. After the break, Politechnika used the back-row attack and retook the lead.
Meanwhile, the Romanian side failed to catch up with Poland and suffered the loss of opening set, 25-22.
In the second set, hostile response of Tomis was quite expected. They put Philip Maiyo in the front row, who delivered some amazing shots and put Romania in lead at 3-0. The hosts counter attacked and maintained a good pace in the game. However, Poland trailed
behind and could not manage to take lead. Tomis led the scores all the way until the finish line and finally claimed second set with four points, 25-21.
Following the tie of score, third set became a heated competition. The spectators got to witness extreme volleyball action on the net. The two sides exchanged long rallies and struggled to make a difference in third set. Politechnika led the scores (13-10)
at the first technical timeout and maintained its good run up till the next mandatory stop. There were actually moments when Tomis came really close to Politechnika but could not surpass. Poles battled out third-set win by posting 25-22 and improved to 2-1
on the scorecard.
It had become increasingly difficult for Romania to return in the game in fourth set. The pressure of cheering audience and powerful opposition affected their performance. They lost fourth set 25-20, while Poland announced match victory.
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