Hyderabad: Bengaluru Torpedoes picked up their third win in a row in the second season of the Prime Volleyball League after beating the Kochi Blue Spikers 15-14, 15-11, 7-15, 15-12, 14-15 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here.
For his tactful performance, Srajan Shetty was named the player of the match as he helped Bengaluru coast to victory at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Friday night.
Bengaluru relied on Srajan’s blocks and Ibin Jose’s attacks to get an early lead. Taking a leaf out of Kolkata Thunderbolts’ guidebook, Erin Varghese started targetting Tsvetelin Tsvetanov from the service line and the strategy worked in the Spikers’ favour.
Kochi did well to keep Tsvetanov quiet. Just when the Spikers appeared to be in control, Sethu T.R., with a super serve, showed that Bengaluru will not back down easily.
The Torpedoes struggled to tackle Erin’s relentless attacks. With powerful serves, the Spikers pushed the Torpedoes backwards, forcing them to react. But as Alireza Abalooch came to the court, skipper Pankaj Sharma became free to make an impact from the middle.
Srajan and Ibin’s defensive blocks once again brought Bengaluru back and they took control of the match. Riding on Erin’s spikes, the Blues found another opening. Abhinav combined with Shubham Chaudhary to put a halt to Tsvetanov while errors from Mujeeb hurt Torpedoes.
Tsvetanov came late to the party but once he did, Kochi’s defensive structure began faltering. With consistent spikes, the Bulgarian tilted the game completely. Srajan continued to become better with blocks and he closed down the game to help Bengaluru Torpedoes register a stunning 3-2 win.
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