In the first leg of the Confederation of European Volleyball (CEV) Cup quarterfinals, Chieri, coached by Hayashi Kento, faced Le Cannet (France) on Wednesday, January 31st local time, and won 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-13).
First set starting lineup
Kieri
OH: Kingdon (USA), Omorui (Italy)
MB: Zacchaeus (Cyprus), Weitzel (Germany)
OP: Globerna (Belgium)
S: Marinov (Italy)
L: Spirito (Italy)
Le Cannet
OH: Kochkova (Russia), Yanfa (Bulgaria)
MB: Katyulina (Russia), Ilyashko (Russia)
OP: Papova (Russia)
S: Lee (Korea)
L: Štimac (Croatia)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
MVP: OP Kaya Groberna 22 points (1 serve, 2 blocks) Attack efficiency rate 26.661 TP 3T
Now, if Chieri wins the next two legs, they will advance to the semi-finals. The second leg of the quarter-finals will be held at Chieri's home ground on Wednesday, February 7th at 28:00 Japan time.
The next Italian league match will be against Pinerolo on Sunday, February 4th at 25:00 Japan time.
Comments from Coach Kento Hayashi
First of all, our opponent, Lucan, was very good.
There were many young players, and the opposite player, Papova, was particularly amazing, and she was able to score spikes no matter what she did until the third set. There were many young players in their teens, and in this match in particular, the opposing team's officials said, "I've never seen a game like this," so I think it was her best game.
One of the key points in the comeback victory was that we were able to grasp the tendency and correct our defense midway through the game, and were able to hold back Papova. In addition, Groberna and Skinner, who came in as a substitute, also scored well.
Also, our serve efficiency improved and our break rate went up. We are a break-oriented team, and we know that if we don't improve that, it will be tough, so I think that our experience playing against high-level Italian teams was useful in that we were able to organize our defense from effective serves. Kingdon in particular supported the team with his excellent defense and reception throughout the match.
The opponent's excellent defense made me realize once again how important blocking and defense are. We have a league match this weekend and a two-leg match against Le Cannet next week, so we will work on building our blocking and defense again in preparation for those matches.
The opposing team was amazing. It's not that we didn't play well, but because the opposing team performed so well, it was really tough. However, I think it was amazing that we overcame that situation, so my players were also amazing. It was a game where I felt a lot of young potential.
Photo: CEV
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