Champions League 2024 (Women)
Group E. 5th round. January 11
Łódź Poland
SC "Prometey" — "Volero Le Cannet" 3-1 (25:20, 25:13, 24:26, 25:16)
Starting line-up of SC "Prometey": Meliushkina (8), Dorsman (k) (14), Khober (1), Milenkovic (13), Drpa (17), Sharhorodska (7), Niemtseva (l), Vasylieva (l). Substitutes: Bukman (9).
Our volleyball players demonstrated an incredible game, overcoming the resistance of the representatives of "Volero Le Cannet" in the match of the group stage of the Champions League 2024. Thus, the Ukrainians fully repaid their opponents for the previous failure.
The teams started the match evenly, rapidly exchanging points. Next, two consecutive block-outs by Bojana Milenkovic helped the "red-whites" comfortably take the lead (6:4). After a double block by Diana Meliushkina and Marta Drpa, an accurate attack by Svitlana Dorsman and a mistake by Anna Kotikova, the gap between the sides increased to five points (13:8).
"Volero Le Cannet" coach Danylo Pejovic responded to this rush with a timeout. However, after the time out, the Ukrainians did not lose momentum. On the contrary, they took courage and began to earn break after break (19:10). In the end, the French team knocked out our athletes from the reception, which significantly reduced the gap (23:20). Fortunately, "Prometey" had the last word - 25:20.
The "red and whites" made a good start in the next game, simply crushing the opponent with a block. It was too difficult for the players of "Volero" to overcome the defensive redoubts in those minutes (7:2). At the equator of the segment, we witnessed an interesting and at the same time protracted rally, which brought a point to Ivan Petkov's wards and doubled their lead (12:6). It is nice to state that this set ended in a complete rout - 25:13.
The total advantage in the previous set played a cruel joke on the nominal hosts. It is quite possible that they lost their concentration, which the competitors took advantage of (5:11). This affected the overall picture of the game because now the Ukrainians had to catch up.
In the end, a productive attack by Melissa Bukman leveled the parity (15:15). And after Bojana Milenkovic's successful actions over the net, "Prometey" took the lead overall (18:17). The final minutes spoiled our nerves. Unfortunately, the representatives of France triumphed on "more or less" - 24:26.
However, our athletes did not lose heart and entered the fourth set even stronger (10:3). Of course, they didn't want to lose points in such a responsible confrontation from the tournament's point of view. In addition, when the opponent is not just possibly could be, but must be defeated. In the end, the "red and whites" managed to succeed - 25:16.
