Albania upset North Macedonia to grab their first win
Recap
CEV Volleyball European Silver League 2022 - Men's match-up at Boris Trajkovski hall in Skopje delivered quite a surprising result. Albania, led by Anton Qafarena, defeated North Macedonia 3-1 to record their first victory in Pool B.
Already in the opening set, Albania showed that they came to North Macedonia eager to show their potential. Anton Qafarena and Leonardo Doda, who scored six points apiece, gave a big boost of confidence to the team. The guests took a 16-11 lead, and although North Macedonia tried to fight back in the decisive moment of the set, it was a bit too late.
An upset from the opener was transformed into power by the hosting team sparked by the local fans. North Macedonia quickly ran away with the score, being led by Stojan Iliev (8 points in the second set) and with solid performance in all components, they equalled the match score.
Learning their lessons from the first two sets, both teams started the next part fully focused. However, in the middle of the set, Albania, with better receptions managed to jump to 16-12. Qafarena was at class of his own, tallying as many as seven points and, with the big support of his teammates, they improved the score further, closing the set 25-17.
It seemed that North Macedonia, led by experienced Nikola Gjorgiev (6 points in that set) would bounce back again. An early 8-4 lead, and then 16-13, could be considered as a safe distance, but Albania stunned again. Qafarena, who scaled the heights even more, contributed with nine points. The visiting team withstood pressure in a point-by-point race to seal their first win in this campaign.
On Saturday, North Macedonia will have a chance to take a revenge, as these teams will meet again in Tirana.