Tirana secures National League title in Albania – Volleyball news
The final round of Albanian Women’s National League came to an end on Thursday and Tirana Volleyball emerged as the top national team.
Tirana based women’s volleyball team was challenged by top rival UMB Volley (which stands for University Marin Barleti Volley) in the final showdown of the tournament, which held at Ramazan Njala sports hall in Durres, Albania. Tirana earned the winning
status by sending 3-2 (25-16, 25-27, 22-25, 25-23, 14-11) on board.
The final round of the national volleyball league featured a total of three matches, which included two semi-finals and the final game. Tirana and UMB joined the semi-final stage from Pool A, whereas Minatori and Teuta came from Pool B.
UMB and Minatori clashed in the first semi-final. The former proved to be better and posted 3-2 (20-25, 25-27, 25-21, 25-13, 15-13) victory. Minatori took a great start in the match and claimed the opening set with fair margin. Using the competitive advantage,
Minatori put more pressure on UMB in the following set. UMB gave a good competition to opponents but still could not manage to avoid the loss of another set. Minatori improved to 2-0 by winning second set in row. UMB responded by storming back in the third
set. They formed better combinations and successfully broke the tempo of Minatori.
UMB came to life by winning third set in the match. Furthermore, the team followed the same strategy and equalled the game score by claiming fourth set. In the tie-breaker fifth set, UMB once again gave out a stellar performance and pulled off semi-final
success. Victory allowed UMB to reserve a slot in the final showdown of the tournament.
On the other hand, Tiara downed the hosts Teuta DURRES in a five-set thriller. The home team used many different tactics to influence the visiting team but failed to stop them from earning the final spot. Tirana advanced to finals by posted 3-2 (24-26, 25-16,
20-25, 25-16, 15-7) victory.
Tirana and UMB crossed their ways in the final match, which took place this past Thursday. The match turned to be heated competition. Tirana set a great tone for the competition by winning the first set. UMB responded with back-to-back wins in the second
and third match, while Tirana created the tie (2-2) by securing fourth.
The decisive final put both teams to real test of skills and temperament. Tirana sustained the pressure and settled for victory.
Winning Captain Klonarda Nezaj shared her emotions after the match. She stated, “I am very proud of this victory and this individual award, but this is mainly a trophy for the complete group after we got past many difficulties this season.
Likewise, the coach of her team Adrian Gorenca shared the similar thoughts. He commented, “We believed in our chances to win up to the very end of the match and this was just an incredible victory.”
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