SPORTS
Rabita Baku back on track with home victory over Czech champions
Baku, January 16, AZERTAC
Azerbaijan’s Rabita Baku got back on track after suffering a major setback shortly before the Christmas holidays to edge past Czech champions Agel Prostejov in four sets (25-21, 25-12, 23-25, 25-15) and record their second victory in Pool A of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women.
The start of the match was quite close; slowly but surely Rabita imposed their quality and were eventually able to win the first set by 25-21. The second one was literally one-sided with the home heroines cruising to a speedy and comfortable 25-12 set win. Aurea Cruz and Katarzyna Skowronska-Dolata scored 11 points each in the first and second sets thereby accounting for most of the rallies won by Rabita. Cuban-born Liannes Castaneda Simon, on the other hand, had chipped with only seven for the Czechs. Agel Prostejov were then able to fight back in the third set where they had the upper hand after a close final rush (25-23). Things changed again in the fourth where Rabita opened with a 6-2 run that set the tone for an easy 25-15 to cash their second home victory in the competition. Team captain Aurea Cruz top scored in the end with 17 points.
The bronze medallists from the 2014 edition, Rabita will continue their quest for a spot in the Playoff round of Europe’s elite competition next week when they travel to Russia to play reigning champions Dinamo Kazan on January 22.
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