On December 21, the return match of the 1/8 finals of the CEV Cup - the second most important European Cup tournament - took place.
In it, VC "Prometey" met with the Serbian club "Partizan" from the city of Belgrade - the current champion of Serbia and the winner of the National Cup and Super Cup.
It was enough for Dnipro to win two sets to get to the historic quarter-finals of the European Cup tournament.
Andrii Levchenko's team coped with the assigned task almost without problems.
CEV Cup 2023-2024. 1/8 of the final. Match-answer
December 21 (Thursday)
"Partizan" (Belgrade, Serbia) - VC "Prometey" (Dnipro, Ukraine) - 0:3 (15:25, 23:25, 21:25)
Starting line-up of VC "Prometey": Viietskyi (scored 8 points), Shchytkov (3), Teromenko (6), Dryja (7), Stankovic (5), Yereshchenko (13), Brova (l), Boiko (l). Substitutes: Yanchuk (7), Hladenko (4), Shapoval (0), Kryvobok (0).
First of all, we would like to note that the Polish middle blocker Dawid Dryja completed his rehabilitation after the injury and today appeared in the starting line-up of the "red and whites".
The start of the match turned out to be successful for the Dnipro team: Yan Yereshchenko made two attacks, and Dmytro Teromenko served an ace (3:0). The advantage continued to grow (14:5 – 18:9) until it became double and, most importantly, unattainable for the opponent - 25:15.
In the second set, the Serbian volleyball players came to their senses a little and took advantage of the first rallies (3:7 – 10:12). However, their own mistakes and the lack of them in the "red and whites" turned the score into an equal one (13:13). Both the coach and the players of "Partizan" were noticeably nervous, which led to receiving yellow and red cards. Parity was maintained almost until the end of the set (23:23). The opponent served out, and "Prometey" put a double block in the next episode - 25:23.
2-0 in sets, which meant that the wards of Andrii Levchenko advanced to the quarterfinals of the CEV Cup 2024!
The next set no longer had any tournament significance and this allowed the Serbs to play a little more loosely (4:10 – 14:16). However, closer to the end of the set, the Dnipro residents added an aggressive serve and Dmytro Yanchuk's ace equalized the score (19:19). Errors by the Serbs and maximum concentration of "Prometey" at the right moment allowed the game to end with an "easy" score - 25:23 - and 3-0.
Let's add that this time too, "Prometey" outnumbered the opponent in terms of blocks (11 vs. 3) and aces (7 vs. 1).
In the quarter-finals, which will take place already in 2024, "Prometey" will play against the Turkish club "Fenerbahce".
