Ahmedabad Defenders recorded its third straight win, outplaying Hyderabad Black Hawks 15-13, 15-10, 15-12, 15-8, 9-15 in the Rupay Prime Volleyball League championship at the GMC Balayogi Stadium here on Thursday.
For the Hawks, this was the first loss in two games.
As has been the pattern in the league so far, the two teams started on an even note, with the lead changing sides frequently till 12-all.
Rohit Kumar, P.V. Jishnu and Louis Antonio Arias combined well to come up with some telling smashes for Hyderabad.
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But in the crucial final moments of the first set, the power of Shon T John and the class of captain A. Muthusamy, who once leapt in the air to fake a spike only to roll the ball into the gap in the centre court was a delight to watch, saw the Defenders win the first set.
In the second set, Defenders maintained a slender two-point lead and Angamuthu, who was comparatively quieter in the first set, made his presence felt with powerful spiking. The third set saw the famed defence of Muthusamy, Manoj and Ryan Meehan being equal to the task and libero S. Prabhakaran being superb too. Shon was good in both defence and attack.
Though Hawks won the super point at 10-11 through a Louis spike, Defenders won the next super point thanks to Muthusamy’s super block. And, importantly, in the company of Shon, Muthusamy ensured the Defenders won the next two points to wrap up the set and the match after the third set itself.
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