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The RuPay Pro Volleyball League 2019 got off to an exciting start as the home side, Kochi Blue Spikers put on a dominating display against the U Mumba Volley side, winning four sets to one at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi, Kerala.
The second matchday threw up an interesting clash as two South Indian sides - Calicut Heroes and Chennai Spartans, faced off against each other.
At the end of the five sets, Calicut Heroes emerged victorious over the Chennai Spartans with a 4-1 scoreline. Ajith Lal, Paul Lotman, Karthik A and Jerome Vinith were the key performers for the Calicut side.
The Heroes started the match on a bright note, with a strong all-around display establishing their control on the court. The blockers were in fine form, thwarting away spikes by the Chennai side as Ajith Lal and Ilourou Ngampourou helped to gain a 9-2 lead in the set. Karthik A delivered two Super Serves for them, inflicting further misery on the Spartans. Calicut held on to win the set 15-8 as Chennai mounted a comeback of sorts to cut the deficit.
The second set was a closely fought encounter as the two sides kept it close on the scoreboard. However, after the initial points, Calicut Heroes pulled away into the lead and wrapped up the set 15-8. Ajith Lal and Karthik A were on point with their spikes as the Chennai defence had no answers for them.
Being two sets down, the Spartans looked in good spirit coming into the third set and played with a renewed sense of confidence. Rudy Voerhoff and Naveen Raja Jacob did well at the net with both spikes and blocks. It was tight right up to the set point with the two sides winning points in tandem. Clinical play from the Chennai side saw them claw back into the game, grabbing the third set with a 15-13 score.
The fourth set of the match saw the Calicut Heroes regain the momentum of the clash. They started off strong and maintained their hold on the scoreline, despite Chennai clawing back into the set. The Heroes wrapped up the set and the match with a 15-11 scoreline, taking an unassailable 3-1 set lead. Ajith Lal continued to deliver well-directed spikes and the Heroes capitalized on the errors committed by the Spartans.
The final set saw the Chennai side start off positively as stayed on the heels of the Heroes. However, they failed to land their spikes successfully and let the Calicut side gain the advantage and seal a 4-1 win on the night with a 15-11 set win.
Impact Player - Ajith Lal (Calicut Heroes)
Calicut Heroes' attacker Ajith Lal was the star of the show tonight with his thundering spikes from the outside for the team. He finished as the top scorer on the court with 14 points which included 13 spikes and one block as well.
After this fixture, the Calicut Heroes will take on U Mumba Volley on 5th February while the Chennai Spartans will face Black Hawks Hyderabad two days later on 7th February.
