Chennai Rockstars rally past Virudhunagar King Makers to reach TNVL 2024 final
Chennai Rockstars defeated Virudhunagar King Makers in the eliminator match of the Tamil Nadu Volleyball League (TNVL) 2024. The match was played at the Santhome Higher Secondary School Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, January 11.
Just a day after losing their final league stage match by 2-3 to Virudhunagar, a reinvigorated Chennai won three straight sets, 21-18, 21-15, 21-16, to book their spot in the final of the TNVL. In the eliminator, the match ends as soon as a team wins three sets.
Chennai ensured they dominated the court after learning from the previous night's mistakes. The duo of Raman Kumar and Santhosh S showed their brilliance in spikes, tantalizing the Virudhunagar side with their spark.
While Raman picked as many as 12 attacking points, Karnataka's Srajan Shetty found the most successful attack rate (85.71) with just six points. The massive difference between the two teams was the ability to save points. Chennai made 20 digs in contrast to Virudhunagar's 12 dig shots.
Although Chennai maintained a lead in the third side, there was a bit of resistance from Virudhunagar. But they couldn't come any closer to matching the intensity of the hosts, and hence, they eventually lost the third set by five points.
Which team will face Chennai Rockstars in the TNVL 2024 final?
Chennai Rockstars will face Cuddalore With Us in the final of the inaugural Tamil Nadu Volleyball League on Friday, January 12, at the same venue. The Chennai spikers will have their task cut out against a team which is yet to lose a game in the tournament thus far.
Cuddalore earned the ticket to the final on the virtue of finishing at the top of the TNVL points table. Skipper Jerome Vinith has scored the most points - 107 - which includes 89 attack points, 15 block points, and three in serves.
Vinith will revolve around the likes of Ashwin Raj, Hardeep Singh, LM Manoj, Lad Om Vasanth, and Sayanth T.
Cuddalore has won four out of five times after losing their first match in the single round-robin phase. In their first match against Chennai, they won 20-21, 21-18, 19-21, 21-20, 21-11, which indicates they thrive well under pressure.