Chennai: Calicut Heroes’ unbeaten run continued for the sixth consecutive game as they defeated U Mumba Volley 3-0 (15-12, 15-9, 16-14) at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here to enter the final of the Pro Volleyball League.
Calicut took the lead very early in the first set and by the first technical time out (TTO) it had a two-point advantage with the score at 8-6.
However, U Mumba soon levelled the score 10-10. Calicut now called for a super point and converted as Sharma misdirected his spike. Calicut finally won the set 15-12 as U Mumba’s Vinit Kumar made a service error.
The second set was a neck-and-neck battle. Initially, Calicut were trailing 3-4 but quickly raced to 6-4 with a two-point lead.
At 9-7 U Mumba called for a super point but an error from their side helped Calicut lead 11-7. Jerome Vinith and A Karthik then hit successful spikes to get them to set point.
Another error from U Mumba’s Vinith helped Calicut win the set.
In the do-or-die set, U Mumba bounced back and never allowed Calicut to take the lead for the most part. At 6-4 the newly introduced review came to the fore as U Mumba opted for it. With the decision in their favour, they had a three-point advantage. Similar kind of dominant play helped them lead 12-7.
When it looked like the game would head into the fourth set, in a dramatic turnaround, Calicut won four points to reduce the deficit. First it was A Karthik’s spike during super point that gave them two crucial points and won them the serve. Skipper Jerome Vinith then delivered a super serve to which a diving Coscovic had no answer.
Paul Lotman then hit a spike as the scores were levelled 12-12.
Calicut held their nerves to take a 15-14 lead and an error from Vinit Kumar off U Mumba, gave the Heroes the set and the match.
They will either face Chennai Spartans or Kochi Blue Spikers in the final.