Spaniards beat Dutch counterparts and qualify for 16th finals – Challenge Cup
The men’s volleyball team from Spain, the Unicaja Almeria worked out a great win against Abiant GRONINGEN of the Netherlands on Thursday, January 12.
The Spaniards proved to be too strong for Dutch team and clinched success in straight sets. (25-17, 25-17, 25-22) The City of Almeria in Spain hosted the match, which provided a competitive edge to the home squad. With this particular win, the Unicaja reserved
a berth in the 16th finals of the 2012 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup. However, the team will be required to win its next match, in order to play in the next round of challenge up.
Unicaja is scheduled to travel to Holland in the next week for the return match with Dutch Abiant GRONINGEN. Spanish wing-spiker, Gustavo Delgado, topped all the scorers with a total of 12 points, while middle blocker Jesus Chourio contributed 10 points,
including 3 blocks.
The home team set the tone for the competition with a strong lead of 11-5 in the opening set. With the help of good attack and defence tactics, the Unicaja squad remained ahead of the Dutch opponents and did not let them stand on their feet.
Dutch head coach, Ronald Zoodsma, came up with different plans and urged his players to break the rhythm of Spanish players but nothing could work out. The pumped up Spaniards did not slow down and continued with success until the final whistle of referee
at 25-17. Setter Victor Viciana was critical to Spain’s success in the opening frame as he assisted the attackers in a great way.
After dropping the first set, the visiting Abiant hit back aggressively and picked up an early lead. However, their dominance was short-lived as the Spanish side made a strong comeback. Unicaja went up at 6-5 and then kept the operations of the game in hand
until the end point.
They added quick points and stretched the gap of points to 12-7, which forced the Dutch to call a timeout. After the break, Unicaja incorporated heavy strike of volleys and covered the length of second set with identical scores of 25-17.
Dutch players played to their full potential in the third set as it was ‘do or die’ situation for them. They managed to push the Spaniards behind and led the scores. They kept the lead in hand until 14-13 but then caught up in mistakes. Meanwhile, Unicaja
displayed better game and won third set 25-22, and also announced match victory.
The Head Coach of Spanish side, Axel Mondi, expressed much delight about the crucial win against Netherlands. He said, “We played good especially in attack but it was not that easy.”
He especially mentioned the name of setter Viciana, who did an excellent job for the team. Likewise, the coach appreciated the game of Middle blockers, Chourio and Alberto Salas. The solid blocks by these two players created much trouble for the Dutch attackers.
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