Kochi Blue Spikers’ David Lee said “crowd support” played a big part in Chennai Spartans’ victory in the semifinals of the Pro Volleyball League here on Wednesday.
The official attendance for the match was 3,943, the majority being Spartans’ fans. “It was a fantastic experience overall. Right now, I’m feeling a little down. I feel we should’ve won the game 3-0,” said Lee after the match.
Spartans’ captain Shelton Moses agreed the crowd support helped and Ruslans Sorokins hoped that it would also help in the final against the unbeaten Calicut Heroes on Friday.
Blue Spikers skipper Ukkrapandian picked the play in the fourth set as a crucial moment of the match. The team called for super point 6-7 down when Spartans’ Kapil Dev hit a super serve. The super point was cancelled, and Spartans went ahead 9-6. Spartans coach M.H. Kumara also picked it as a crucial moment. He had a special mention for Sorokins, who won the man-of-the-match award.
Ukkrapandian said Calicut Heroes’ “great servers”, captain Jerome Vinith, Paul Lotman and Karthik, will be key to the team’s chances in the final.
