Chennai: Chennai Spartans edged out Kochi Blue Spikers in a five-set thriller 3-2 (16-14, 9-15, 10-15, 15-8, 15-13) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday to qualify for the final of the inaugural Pro Volleyball League where it will meet Calicut Heroes.
The home team was in a spot of bother when it was down by two sets to one, but bounced back strongly to take the fourth and nailed an exciting final set to advance to the final much to the delight of the spectators cheering for the home team. At 17 points, Ruslans Sorokins was the top-scorer for Chennai Spartans.
The first set started with both teams in no mood to handover a clear advantage to the other. It was 6-6 when a beautifully placed serve by Chennai’s Ruslans Sorokins created the first opening. His following serve hit the net and it was again all square at 7-7. Naveen Raja Jacob spiked one past David Lee and Chennai went into the first Technical Time Out (TTO) leading 8-7.
Kochi called for a Super Point immediately after TTO and converted with a Prabagaran S spike. Prabagaran followed it up with another spike on their serve, Kochi now held a 10-8 lead. Chennai called for a Super Point at 9-11 and Rudy Verhoeff converted with a thunderous spike to level the score at 11-11. Chennai finally prevailed and won the first set 16-14.
In the second set at 5-5, Kochi Blue Spikers called for a Super Point and converted with a Manu Joseph spike to lead 7-5. Kochi went into the TTO with an 8-5 lead. It was no-nonsense business by Kochi after this as they won the set 15-9 and the game stood level at 1-1.
The third set saw Kochi race to a 3-0 lead. Down 3-7 in the set Chennai called for a Super Point and converted it but Kochi raced to an 8-5 lead at TTO. Lee and Joseph led from the front in the set as each scored 4 and 3 points respectively to win the set 15-10.
In the do-or-die penultimate set, Chennai established a 7-6 lead. At that point, Kochi called for a Super Point. Umpire called the serve from Chennai’s Kapil Dev out and when it seemed, they had won the point, Chennai called for a review and it went in their favour and it became a Super Serve.
As a result, Chennai went into the TTO leading 8-6. Chennai kept on piling the pressure and also converted off Kochi’s Super Point to eventually win the set 15-8 to take the match into the decider.
The fifth set was a close fight till 9-9. Kochi called for a Super Point and Lee converted with an inch perfect spike to give Kochi an 11-10 lead. Immediately, Chennai also called for a Super Point and that was converted.
The score stood at 12-11 in Chennai’s favour and from there they won the match 15-13 to qualify for the final.
Photo: C SANTHOSH