The volleyball players from Nova Tech Lycurgus sold their skin dearly against SC Prometey Dnipro in a swirling Martiniplaza. But the experienced Ukrainians were again too strong with 3-0. As a result, the European adventure for the people of Groningen is over.
“We played much better than away,” said Lycurgus coach Arjan Taaij. “We cannot be blamed for much. Dnipro was slightly better than us. We had a gap of two or three points at crucial moments in both the first and the third set, but we were unable to hold on to 20 points. Then they just passed over us. In the first set the Ukrainians served two aces above 20 points and we did not score anymore. That just made the difference.”
According to Taaij, his team failed to push through at the important moments. “That may have to do with the difference in quality and the fact that we are a team in development. We have to do things even better. That will happen too. It is not enough now. Am I very disappointed? The goal today was to achieve a golden set. That didn’t work out and it’s a shame. But I can’t really blame the team. We’ve tried to sell our skin dearly and play for what we’re worth. The final conclusion is that it is just not good enough.”
Lycurgus gives everything in the swirling Martiniplaza
Of course, Lycurgus knew that it would not be easy to overcome the 3-0 away defeat against SC Prometey Dnipro at home. But the Groningen team did everything they could to achieve this in a packed Martiniplaza on Wednesday evening. It was supported in the new home base by 2,250 spectators, who supported their team fanatically and loudly. The swirling hall inspired the tall men from Groningen. They tried to make it as difficult as possible for the Ukrainians.
That did not prevent the experienced power volleyball players from Dnipro from winning the first set 22-25. But they certainly didn’t get the set as a gift. Lycurgus played with more fire and drive than last Thursday in Romania, where the Ukrainian team had to play its ‘home match’ due to the war with Russia. In particular, the American diagonal player Cal Fisher was now in better shape for Lycurgus than in the previous match in the sixteenth final of the CEV Cup.
Lycurgus only had to bow his head at the big points
Lycurgus was unable to maintain a lead in the first set and only had to bow his head after reaching the so-called big points. This was partly due to a strong performance by Dmytro Teryomenko, who gave the visitors a 22-23 lead with a service ace. The Ukrainian continued to serve well, after which another American Lycurgus player, Kyle McCauley, hit hard into a Dnipro three-man block. This made the set win 22-25 and the 0-1 lead for the visitors a fact.
The people of Groningen are now going all the way
That was to the delight of a group of Ukrainian supporters in the stands. They live as refugees in Haren and were allowed to visit the match for free. After that it was even more make or break for Lycurgus, because losing the second set also meant immediate elimination from the European Cup. While the Groningers did little in the second and third sets in the away match last week, they now went all out. As a result, the second set in Martiniplaza remained exciting for a long time, but the experienced Ukrainians were just a little too good. The hard-smashing Dmyrtro Vlietskyi scored the set point 23-25.
Lycurgus is out of Europe 2-0 down
As a result, Lycurgus fell behind 2-0 and was therefore eliminated from Europe at that time. Because only with a 3-0 or 3-1 win, and then a golden set win, the Groningen team could have continued in the CEV Cup. The third set was then only important for the statistics. Although Lycurgus wanted to win another set. The very sympathetic audience deserved that. It was another exciting set, in which Lycurgus led 23-20. But Dnipro also did not want to give up the third set. In a very exciting final phase, the Ukrainians came back in front, despite spectacular saves from Groningen libero Jeffrey Klok. They also won the third set 24-26.
“I am very disappointed,” diagonal Thomas Sleurink said after the loss. “Our European adventure is now over. We went for a stunt and played better than away. But the result is still not enough. We certainly still have room for improvement. This gives courage for the competition. If we can play like this against these types of teams, we can certainly do that at home.”
Lycurgus-SC Prometey Dnipro 0-3
Set positions: 22-25, 23-25 and 24-26.
Spectators: 2250.
Next game: Sunday Groningen: 4 p.m.: Lycurgus-Orion.