Targu Mures. On Wednesday, C.S.M. Volei Alba BLAJ stormed to a comprehensive 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-16) victory over 1. MCM-Diamant KAPOSVAR in the first leg of the women’s CEV Challenge Cup semi-finals. The Romanian champions clearly dominated the match and needed just 63 minutes to seal their victory. The visitors only created problems at the beginning of the second set, but they failed to keep the pace of the home side, allowing the hosts to impose themselves categorically. The return will take place on March 3, in Kaposvár.
The captain of C.S.M. Volei Alba BLAJ, Ioana Maria Baciu, was the MVP of the match and top scored with 16 points.
Darko Zakoc, head coach of C.S.M. Volei Alba BLAJ: “It was not easy to keep the team at the same level of motivation and focus after winning the Romanian Cup, but we played very well, especially in the first set, when we displayed a top performance. We had some problems in the second set, especially since we won the first one by a big margin, but we managed to return to our level and we finished this match with a clear victory. It was just the first match, we will be careful in the return, as we do not think that in Hungary two sets will be enough for us, we are going there to win and qualify for the final, which is our main goal.”
Sasa Nedeljkovic, head coach of 1. MCM-Diamant KAPOSVAR: “I want to congratulate Volei Alba BLAJ for their victory in this match, we tried to play and stay in contention, but we did not manage to do this until the beginning of the second set. The team from Blaj plays an intense game with powerful attacks and very strong blocks combined with a very good defence. It was a very bad match for my team and all we have to do is prepare for next week. I do not know what our chances are, now I feel that the team is very tired, but we will see.”
Ioana Baciu: “I am a little tired, but very happy. It was 3-4 hard days for us, with the Romanian Cup tournament, and today’s victory is very important, since we are a step closer to the final, which we want to win. We started the match very well, with much focus and I think you could see that. We are now waiting for the re-match in Hungary and we hope to return home with a victory from there as well.”
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CEV – European Volleyball
HUN – Hungarian Volleyball Federation
1.MCM Diamant KAPOSVAR
