Bengaluru Torpedoes notched up an exciting 14-15, 12-15, 15-13, 15-9, 15-14 win over Kochi Blue Spikers in the Rupay Prime Volleyball League 2022 at the GMC Balayogi Stadium (Gachibowi) here on Tuesday.
This was Kochi’s second straight loss in the league phase.
Captain Ranjit Singh of Bengaluru was the ‘player of the match'.
The first set saw Kochi stage a terrific fight back after being 7-14 at one stage to win the next eight points to win the set thanks to the substitute T.R. Sethu’s splendid show. He not only came up with big, powerful serves but also excelled at the net in the company of the experienced captain A. Karthik and Colton Cowell.
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In the second set, Kochi took charge after breaking away from eight-all at one stage as Sethu continued to be the key performer.
Deepesh, Cody Caldwell and Colton worked in tandem at the net to nullify the striking prowess of the opposition.
But, in the third set, Bengaluru fought back thanks to the brilliance of Lavmeet Katariya, Pankaj Sharma and G.S. Varun, who not only thwarted the rival defence but came up with telling spikes. It was a super spike from Varun, which saw the team clinch the issue and keep the team’s hopes alive.
Bengaluru took an early comfortable 6-2 lead in the fourth set before Deepesh Kumar Sinha and Cody scripted a Kochi fightback. But, the power of Varun, Pankaj and the wonderful display at the net by Ranjit saw the team win the set and take the issue into the decider.
In the final set, it was anybody’s match, but unfortunately for Kochi, the consistent Deepesh had to limp off with a left ankle injury with the score reading 5-3 in his team’s favour. Though his substitute Abhinav and Raheem came up with some powerful spikes, Bengaluru rode on the brilliance of Lovemeet, Pankaj to clinch the set and the match.
