Guaguas start European campaign with home victory
News
Guaguas LAS PALMAS started their journey in the 2023 edition of the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup Men with a come-from-behind 3-1 home victory (23-25, 30-28, 25-23, 25-13) over Bulgaria’s Deya Volley BURGAS. The hosts regrouped after losing the opening set with the help of Brandon Rattray, eventually securing a much-needed victory and three precious points ahead of next week’s re-match in Bulgaria.
After a close start, Guaguas claimed an early 11-8 advantage in the first set and despite a time-out by the Bulgarian coach, Ventzislav Simeonov, the home side did not lose control of the game. The course of the set changed with three straight points for Deya Volley and in a close money time, the visitors had the upper hand 25-23. Brandon Rattray propelled the comeback of the home team even though the game remained a very close affair for the whole second set. Rattray eventually sealed the 30-28 win for Guaguas after a dramatic end to the set.
Afterwards, the hosts looked much more confident than before – leading 13-9 almost halfway through the third set. Deya Volley BURGAS fought back with a positive four-point streak and yet another set would end in dramatic fashion – this time with Yadrian Escobar Silva fixing the final 25-23 score for the hosts. Guaguas seemed to have found the key to impose their rule in the match and the fourth set was very one-sided, eventually ending in a landslide 25-13 win for the Spaniards. The result represents an obvious boost of confidence for Guaguas’ players ahead of next week’s return game in Bulgaria.
Sergio Camarero, head coach of Guaguas LAS PALMAS: “We all knew we were due to play a very difficult opponent. It was a tough match, with three very close sets. I think the fans supported us with much passion and they got us through. We have won a very important match and now we should take a little rest before this weekend’s national league match in Palma. I am a bit disappointed with the first set, where we did lead but they closed the gap, and we eventually lost it. However, the very same happened to the Bulgarian team in the second set. The key was in the small details.”
Alejandro Fernández Rojas, libero of Guaguas LAS PALMAS: “The team has been incredible, just like last weekend against Melilla. We are in a good space and when we face difficult moments, the individual quality of each player comes out and that is the right way to go. We have had a good start and I hope it continues like this for the whole season. We started this match a little bit more nervous than usual. As the time went by, we focussed more on our own game than on the fight with the opponent. You could see the result, especially in the final set.”
Elsewhere, Israel’s Hapoel Yoav KFAR SABA secured their spot in the 16th Finals after claiming a 3-1 home victory in the first match with VCA AMSTETTEN NÖ of Austria, followed by a 2-3 loss – which was still enough to stay alive in the competition. In the next round, Hapoel will be playing Belgium’s Lindemans AALST.
Another Israeli team, Maccabi Yeadim TEL-AVIV, achieved the same feat after recording two quick 3-0 wins over Luboteni FERIZAJ of Kosovo and they are now due to play GreenPlan-VRCK KAZINCBARCIKA of Hungary in the next round.
One of the top teams contesting this round, Greece’s PAOK THESSALONIKI, started their journey with a 3-1 home victory over Switzerland’s Biogas Volley NÄFELS. The visitors claimed the opening set 25-20 to put pressure on PAOK, but the Greek team responded well with the help of their Belgian opposite hitter Bram Van den Dries, showed their quality, and controlled the pace of the game to make up for the early setback and sweep three sets in a row. With this result, PAOK will need to take two sets from the re-match in Switzerland to progress to the 16th Finals.
A historic, first European match took place in the city of Komárno, Slovakia, because the city of Nitra had played host to last year’s CEV Champions League home fixture of Rieker UJS KOMÁRNO. In front of a passionate crowd, the home team looked very well prepared and outclassed the opponent, Albania’s SK TIRANA, in the second set (25-12) after a rather close and tight opener (25-21). In the third set, the visitors improved and eventually had the upper hand (25-20). In the fourth set, a nervous battle unfolded, with the home side emerging victorious (25-18) – but next week’s re-match in Albania will be a hard nut to crack.