Calicut Heroes beat Hyderabad Black Hawks 15-14, 15-10, 15-14, 15-14, 15-9 in a must-win match to enter the semifinals of the Rupay Prime Volleyball League championship here on Monday.
Hawks had a slender 5-3 lead in the first set but service errors proved costly, letting Heroes came back thanks to the ever-consistent Jerome Vinith, who got splendid support from David Lee, Sujan Lal and M.C. Mujeeb.
Hawks had a chance to win the first set after Sujan Lal of Heroes served out to make the scoreline read 14-all. But, Vignesh finished off in style for Heroes with a terrific smash.
In the second set, Heroes thrived on the brilliance of Jerome and Lee with Ajith Lal and Mujeeb coming up with splendid double blocks to thwart the rival attack.
Telling spike
George Antony, Amit Gulia and S.V. Guru Prasanth scored a few points for Hawks but Vignesh came up with a telling spike to clinch the super point at 14-10 for Heroes.
In the crucial third set, Jerome served out at 12-13 before Mujeeb helped Heroes level the scores 13-all and it became 14-13 when Hawks’ star spiker Amit Gulia smashed one out.
Hawks came back into the game with Luis Antonio’s great placement levelling the scores at 14. But, Abhil Krishnan came up with a super spike to clinch the set and match for the Heroes.
Heroes’ win also meant Bengaluru Torpedoes was out of contention for the knock-out phase.
The result: Calicut Heroes bt Hyderabad Black Hawks 15-14, 15-10, 15-14, 15-14, 15-9.
Tuesday’s match: Ahmedabad Defenders v Kochi Blue Spikers, 7 p.m.
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