Challenge Cup quarters, first leg
Latina wins in Slovenia
CALCIT KAMNIK – ANDREOLI LATINA 1-3 (13-25, 21-25, 25-22, 17-25)
CALCIT KAMNIK: Lakner 2, Hribar (L), Novljan 4, Stern 9, Kvas, Pokersnik 3, Ribic (L), Stembergar 10, Brus 6, Hrast 2, Kotnik 12. Coach. Brumen.
ANDREOLI LATINA: Rossini (L), Gitto 10, Sottile 2, Michalovic, Skrimov 11, Verhees 14, Tailli (L), Noda Blanco 1, Starovic 16, Fragkos 14. DNP De Rocco, Paris. Coach. Simoni.
Latina came back from Slovenia with a win in the Challenge Cup quarter-final first leg. The Italians will just need two sets at home in the return leg to go through to the semis. Effective in attack, Latina registered 51%, while the host were limited to 36%. Skimov’s serves made the difference once again (3 aces).
Dario Simoni (Coach Andreoli Latina): “We started off very aggressive in the first set. In the third, we adapted to their game. They made it difficult for us with the float serve. We had a good reaction in the fourth set, we quickly built a good lead and won it without any problem. This is a team we can definitely beat, but they remain the barrier that separates us from the semi-finals. I expect the team to improve athletically, and we need to get better overall week after week”.
Andreas Fragkos (Andreoli Latina): “Against these kind of teams, you need to be aggressive from the beginning and impose your rhythm. We did that in the first two sets, while in the third we let them dictate things before reacting in the fourth. The return leg will be a different game, we had problems with the gym, very small, we lacked space to run before hitting the serve. But if we are hundred percent focused, we’ll have a good chance to get into the semi-finals”.
Fixtures
Quarter-finals return leg
Wednesday february 12 at 8.30pm
Andreoli Latina (ITA) – Calcit Kamnik (SLO)
(Grabovsky-Andersen)
