Chennai earns maiden win in Prime Volleyball

Chennai Blitz earned its maiden win in the Prime Volleyball League as it beat Calicut Heroes 3-2 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Following four successive defeats, already eliminated Chennai was fifth time lucky and got the better of Calicut 15-14, 15-9, 15-14, 10-15, 12-15. Brazilian Bruno Da Silva was named the player of the match for his game-changing role in Blitz’s triumph.

Fernando Gonzalez of Venezuela stood tall for Chennai, which led 7-5 in the first set. But, Calicut levelled the score at 9-9, thanks to spikes from captain Jerome Vinith and C Ajith Lal. While Heroes edged ahead 13-12, Blitz had the last laugh in the opener. Calicut made a few unforced errors in the second set, helping Chennai hold a three-point advantage.

Pinamma Prashant came up with a ‘Super Serve’, which helped Blitz clinch a ‘Super Point’ at a crucial juncture. Chennai closed out the second set 15-9 to take a 2-0 lead in the contest.

In the third set, the teams were level at 11-11 and later 13-13. Gonzalez pulled off a brilliant spike at the end to help Blitz seal the set and the match.

Chennai’s hopes of securing three points for the win (via a 5-0 whitewash) crashed in the fourth set, which ended 15-10 in favour of Calicut. Heroes made the match scoreline 2-3 by winning the fifth and final set 15-12.