Hyderabad Black Hawks scored its third win in five games defeating Kolkata Thunderbolts 15-8, 13-15, 15-9, 15-12, 8-15 in the Rupay Prime Volleyball League championship at GMC Balayogi Stadium (Gachibowli) here on Tuesday.
Thunderbolts, without its captain and star player Ashwal Rai (injured), looked out of sorts in the first set which the home team won easily thanks to the superb show by setter Vipul and Praful and the spiking prowess of S.V. Guru Prasanth, the 'player of the match' for the evening.
S. Aravindhan and Mohammad Riyazudeen combined well with Mathew August as Thunderbolts put up a better show to win the second set.
Solid defence
Though southpaw Anu James, who came in as a substitute, got the angle and power in his spiking for Thunderbolts, the solid defence of Hawks made a huge difference in the third set. Thanks to Vipul Kumar, S. Praful and Amit Gulia rising to the occasion, Hawks went 2-1 ahead.
In the fourth set, Thunderbolts came back when James’ spike got them the super point at 6-9.
But, again, as had been the feature, Hawks defence was equal to the task when tested and with Vipul’s assured presence, Vinit and Guru came up with some stunning spikes which split the rival defence repeatedly.
For the Thunderbolts, this was the first loss in four games.
The result: Hyderabad Black Hawks bt Kolkata Thunderbolts 15-8, 13-15, 15-9, 15-12, 8-15.
Wednesday’s match: Chennai Blitz vs Kochi Blue Spikers, 7 p.m.
