MÁV Forward Foxconn – Fino Kaposvár 1:3 (-18, 17, -22, -22)
Székesfehérvár, 217 spectators
Led by: Ágnes Bátkai-Katona, János Szarka.
MÁV Forward Foxconn: Szabó V. 2, Janke 12, Ambrus B. 4, Pesti 16, Koci 14, Tomanóczy B. 5. Replacement: Takács M. (libero), Dileo. Head coach: Zoltán Dávid
Fino Kaposvár: Hubicska 10, Magyar B. 1, Lescay Favier 10, Novoselov 9, Baróti 25, Bögöly 14. Substitution: Bozóki (libero), Quevedo Hernandez 4, Iván B. 1. Head coach: Szlobodan Prakljacsics
Everyone agreed that Fortuna did not side with either team when the pairing was drawn. This meeting could also be a sort of brought-up finale, just like the clashes between the two teams last May in the Extraliga final. At that time, the Somogyi team proved to be better, but since then the Foxconn guard of MÁV Elöre has become significantly stronger and more routine. The fire was burning in Loki’s players, they wanted to prove themselves, but at the moment, as it turned out at the end, their rivals are even ahead of them.
In the first third of the first set, the sides tasted each other, the battle was completely open and balanced. First, Kaposvár took a minimal advantage at 5:3, but Redjo Koci was able to quickly equalize. Then the visitors tried to leave Loki at bay again and maintained their lead of two or three points. In fact, after Árpád Baróti’s opening ace, the biggest difference up to that time was formed at 6:10. Dávid’s students had to hold on, as they came close to one point several times, but the equalization was missed.
In the second game, the host team seemed to gather themselves, and with the guidance of Koci and Christian Janke, they forged a 6:3 advantage. They have improved not only with their serves, but their blocks are much better than before. In the continuation, after Koci, who was playing excellently, dropped, the scoreboard was already 10:5, and this distance was roughly maintained and even increased in the continuation.
The next stage also started closely, sometimes one team had the advantage, sometimes the other. Another issue is that the Fehérvár team couldn’t deal with Baróti’s bomb serves, but they kept up and got into two-point situations several times. However, Fino did not leave it at that, the MÁV players were under constant pressure, and the visiting team took the lead at 18 and brought the set with a little more focus.
The fourth act was opened by Gábor Bögöly’s elemental knockdown, but this did not disturb the home team, who played with great heart and strove to equalize their set deficit. They went head-to-head until 7:10, when after Janke’s hit, the ball landed in his own half from the rampart. After that, it seemed as if MÁV Elöre, supported laudably by its fans, was broken, and Fino scored points in a row. Janke did open two aces, but this did not cause much confusion on the other side. The visitor collected the points and was on the way to winning the match, although Loki gained momentum once again and came up one point, 19:20. However, it didn’t take more than that this evening.
The rematch of the pairing will take place a week later, on January 17, at 6 p.m. in the Kaposvár Arena.
