SPORTS
Dinamo disappoints Baku home crowd by claiming the last spot in final
Baku, March 16 (AZERTAC). Dinamo Kazan will challenge the reigning champions of VakifBank Istanbul in Sunday’s final of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women in Azerbaijan. The home crowd at the sold-out Crystal Hall was disappointed to miss out on a dream first continental title for their favorites from Rabita Baku as the Russian squad crushed their hopes in straight sets - 3:0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-19), in the second semifinal on Saturday evening.
Inspired by the full house of noisy spectators, the home team started off with an early 4-1 lead. After 6-3, however, Dinamo flexed muscles with 4 points in a row to take the lead. Some excellent spiking by Ekaterina Gamova and many unforced errors on Rabita’s side helped the Russian squad dominate through the rest of the set and win it by a landslide 25-15.
Rabita recovered from an early 0-3 lag in the second set and managed to maintain a lead through most of the middle of the set. The tight battle led to a 17-17 tie, which was the last on for this set. Dinamo’s better spiking and blocking provided for its breakaway in the conclusive moments. A kill block by Jordan Quinn Larson-Burbach closed it off at 25-21.
The great blocking efforts of the Russian squad continued through the third set. Gamova seemed to be unstoppable in leading her team to the final. After 4-4 Dinamo did not allow Rabita to even level the score anymore. Some hope returned to Azerbaijani souls when the home heroines still managed to climb up to only a point behind the opponent at 17-18, but not for long. The girls from Kazan made an impressive final push for the eventual 25-19 to celebrate victorious.
Ekaterina Gamova was the top scorer of the match with 20 points, followed by Jordan Quinn Larson-Burbach with 12. With 10 points each, Rachel Rourke and Aurea Cruz became Rabita’s most prolific players.