Two fingers. Cajasol Voley Dos Hermanas achieved its second consecutive victory in just three days after beating IBSA CV CCO 7 Palmas in the tie break despite starting 2-0 winning.
The rival was not easy at all. In fact, it was one of the teams in the upper zone of the Super League. And the Nazarene squad had had 50 hours between their duel on Saturday and this one; and just one day to prepare for the match against the Canary Islands.
The meeting began with Cajasol imposing the rhythm of the game. The Nazarene squad started with a good level of serve, making IBSA’s defense difficult. Jimena Gayoso and captain Judith Porras took advantage of their good service level to increase Cajasol’s initial advantage against CV CCO 7 Palmas. The visitors reacted and returned to equalize the balance of the first set, even taking an advantage of +2 later on.
José Manuel González, Magú, reacted knowing that the serve was his main asset in this match. It gave entry to the youth squad Victoria Van Eck to get a 3-0 run and take the lead after half the game. From there the Nazarene squad maintained its competitive level, reaching the final points ahead of one of the most difficult rivals in the championship. All the players participated in offensive tasks, and Cajasol’s reception level was being quite high. Very good set for the Dos Hermanas team that made it 1-0 on aggregate and won 25-22.
El Cajasol knew how to harm IBSA. And he was getting it. It forced the Canaries into bad offensive reconstructions to attack them in a second attack and they maintained a high level of serve-reception. This was worth the Nazarene team to continue ahead in the second set.
As the game continued, the forces evened out. Cajasol made the IBSA level appear irregularly, while they continued with their game and increasing their advantage. The Sevillian team seemed completely different compared to just a week ago. Magú has been able to find the key for his team to compete face to face with whoever, with the merit of playing in just two days with two of the best teams in the competition, winning one in the tie break and making sure to score against one of the contenders for the title. Cajasol won 25-21 and made it 2-0 in the light.
The visiting team saw that their chances of scoring at Los Montecillos against a great rival were running out. IBSA reacted and from the beginning of the third set they increased their advantage until they reached +5. As a result of that partial, Cajasol wanted to react, but the advantage was too great against an enemy of a high level. The locals managed to reduce the distance to +2, but quickly the IBSA countered the reaction with a great Saray Manzano leading her team. In the final points, at 18-22, Magú gave entry to the María Zambrano youth squad, who with a good serve put the 19-22 in the Los Montecillos lighthouse. Finally, IBSA took the third set 19-25 and put it 2-1 on aggregate.
The fourth game followed the same trend as the previous one. The Canarian team got an advantage of +5 that was later countered by Cajasol. Nothing could be further from reality, the islands put the cruising speed to tie the game and force the ‘tie break’ (20-25).
In this one, the IBSA maintained the momentum of the third and fourth sets, taking a good lead at the beginning. But, unlike the previous two rounds, Cajasol did not stop fighting and managed to equalize the balance in the ‘tie break’. From there, equality prevailed. With a minimum difference for the Nazarene squad with 10-9 in the light, Magú gave entrance to Candela to make her serve, she scored directly and increased the advantage (11-9). The IBSA reduced distances afterwards, but a great ball from Jimena returned the advantage to Cajasol with a magnificent blow from the back. At the key moment, Winderlys finished off and placed his team with three match balls. The Canary Islands saved the first, but again the Venezuelan international reappeared and left the victory in Los Montecillos (15-13)