Dukla stun French opponents side-lined by late arrival in Liberec
News
Dukla LIBEREC recorded a comprehensive 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-17, 25-23) in their first match-up with Pays d’Aix VENELLES of France scheduled for the 16th Finals of the women’s CEV Volleyball Cup 2023. This fixture featured the team currently ranked fourth in the Czech national league and the no. 8 side from the current standing of the French championship. The visitors from France were the pre-favourites of this match, but their performance was side-lined by a very late arrival – they had to catch a train to travel from Munich to Liberec and they barely made it to the Czech city, so the start of the match was postponed by more than three hours.
Dukla came from behind after a rough start to the opening set – and much of the same happened in the second as well, where Petra Kojdová helped her side claim an all-important four-point advantage. The visitors from France tried to respond, but Dukla won the second set too. The third set was full of turnarounds, and it was a close fight until the end with Dukla eventually having the upper hand.
Nikola Kvapilová, captain of VK Dukla LIBEREC: “We won and so we have a better position for the second match in France. I think you could see good volleyball from our side. We had a good mood, and it could be seen in our game. Although the game started so late, we played well, so we are very satisfied.”
Libor Gálík“Congratulations to the girls. As I said, European Cups are the bonus for the team, and we played extremely well. At the beginning, we did many mistakes on the service, but later we started to play better. In the third set, we made again lots of mistakes from the service line, but at the end of the set we played well again, and we won the whole match.”
Head coach of Dukla LIBEREC
Christina Bauer, captain of Pays d’Aix VENELLES: “Our journey was very difficult. We came to the match very late and started to play without being familiar with the hall. I am sure the second game will be totally different.”
Alexis Farjaudon“It was very uncomfortable for us to get into the game after such a difficult journey to Liberec. We were very tired. It was important for us to play without suffering any injury. We must forget about this game quickly and focus on the next matches.”
Head coach of Pays d'Aix VENELLES