Ahmedabad Defenders recorded its second win scoring a hard-fought 12-15, 15-11, 10-15, 15-12, 15-11 win over Calicut Heroes in the Rupay Prime Volleyball League championship at the GMC Balayogi Stadium (Gachibowli), Hyderabad, on Wednesday.
In a contest where there was little to separate the two teams, the first set saw an intense struggle to take control. The Calicut side’s Jerome Vinith, played a lead role in putting the team ahead with some telling smashes and lovely placements and M.C. Mujeeb complemented his effort.
Trademark smashes
The second set too saw the teams trade lead till the scoreline read 9-all before the combine of Rodrigo Villalboa and Ryan Meehan coming up with splendid blocks for Defenders. This gave the ever-consistent Angamuthu the liberty to essay his trademark smashes from the corners even as defence was equal to the task.
Heroes won the third set with Ajith Lal again the lead performer and N. Jitin, Mujeeb and Jerome combining well.
In the fourth, Defenders led right through with a slender margin before breaking away. The combination of Angamuthu, A. Muthuswamy and Shon T. John was just too good to thwart the striking prowess of someone like Ajith Lal.
In the final set, Defenders went on the offensive led by the fiery ‘player-of-the-match’ Angamuthu.
There was a chance for Heroes to come back into the match after clinching the super point when Manoj of Defenders served into the net to reduce the scoreline 11-12 for Heroes but they failed to capitalise.
The result: Ahmedabad Defenders bt Calicut Heroes 12-15, 15-11, 10-15, 15-12, 15-11.
Thursday’s match: Ahmedabad Defenders vs Hyderabad Black Hawks, 7 p.m.
