Serbian Crvena Zvezda receives another blow from Italian Pesaro – 2012 CEV Champions League
Crvena Zvezda BEOGRAD, which was already down with a devastating 0-4 record, received another hard knock from resilient rival Scavolini Pesaro of Italy in the last meeting.
The two teams came into contest in the fifth leg of the preliminary round on Thursday, January 12. The match was hosted by Italy, which provided extra advantage to the hosts. Scavolini clinched success in straight set (25-23, 25-17, 25-22).
However, the utmost effort of visiting team was commendable. The Beograd squad staged a neck-to-neck fight and gave a hard time to Scavolini to win.
Italian side improved to 4-1 record, while Beograd still remained without any win in the tournament, 0-5. Serbian team has lost all its hopes to play in the next round of the tournament. On contrary, the Italians are totally pumped-up to take their legacy
into the Playoffs 12.
Italian Alexandra Klineman was named Most Valuable Player of the match as she paced her side with 16 points. On the Serbian side, wing-spiker Ana Bjelica and Kecman were the top scorers with 11 points, apiece.
First set of the match was closely contested. The visiting team came quick to build an early lead. The gap of points was minimal but Serbs remained ahead of Scavolini until 10-9.
Eventually, Italy went up on the scoreboard and traded lead before Beograd hit a couple of good shots and retook lead. Meanwhile, the Italian side directed the ball in corners and rare gaps. They managed to break the rhythm of Serbian hitters and pushed
them behind. Italy took lead at 18-17 and maintained dominance until set points, 25-23.
After winning the first set, Italian Scavolini Pesaro sealed second set win with a display of incredible game. They did not allow the guest team to come up. Beograd lagged behind for the whole time in second frame and suffered the set-back, 17-25.
Third set was another fine display of volleyball from both teams but victory graced Italy as they posted 25-22 on board. The hosts earned success in straight sets and reserved a berth in the quarter-finals.
The Head Coach of Crvena Zvezda, Ratko Pavlicevic, regretted the loss of fifth game in row and expressed displeasure about the unforced mistakes of his players.
He stated, “We played a little better than we did in Beograd but still I am not fully satisfied. We made too many mistakes and obviously we shall avoid this even though we are a young team.”
His Italian counterpart, Pedulla said, “We should have played even better. Maybe we have been working a lot these days in the gym and so the players are a bit tired. Anyway we have won the game. We were more focused as we played the first match in Beograd;
this time we have been following their rhythm and this influenced the quality of our play.”
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