"They aren't doing anything amazing, they are just consistent" - Ahmedabad Defenders' out-hitter Max Senica reflects on loss against Itambe Minas
It’s been more than a fortnight after India’s World Cup loss to Australia in the final in Ahmedabad. Even the recent T20I series triumph in Bengaluru might not have extenuated the opportunity missed to add a third prestigious title in the cabinet.
Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the raucous crowd at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium from rallying behind Australia’s Max Senica when the outside hitter played alongside five Indians for Ahmedabad Defenders in their first game of Men’s Volleyball Club World Championship against Itambe Minas.
It wasn’t an ideal result for the Indian club on their debut in the biggest club competition after they lost in straight sets 22-25, 23-25 & 19-25. Although Ahmedabad were playing catch-up to Minas in the first two games, there were some areas where they stunned their Brazilian counterparts, particularly Amit Gulia’s cross-court shots topples. Max was spot-on with his serves and played around the middle blocker and libero, picking up three attacking points.
The major difference between the two sides was the Brazilian players' ability to dig and clear the smashes. Both of Minas’ outside hitters, Ferreira da Silva Paulo Vinicios and Loh Lucas Eduardo kept 100% efficiency in digging. Libero Ramamoorthy Ramanathan’s 66.67% was the best for the Ahmedabad outfit.
“We got some good reception and then we comeback and made some mistakes in the service. That’s the difference between us and them When they get serve, they are just consistent. They are not doing anything amazing, they are just consistent, that’s where we need to do work on,” Max told reporters after the game.
Speaking about his bonding with the Indian volleyball players, the Brisbane-based Max said:
“We have a lot of fun, especially Amit and myself. We are always making fun of each other and having some good banter. I really like that. As soon as I came into the team, I felt comfortable. I didn’t feel like an outsider and they were welcoming. Yes, it’s sometimes difficult to communicate but these guys have been amazing.”
"I think we can serve better" - Itambe Minas captain
Itambe Minas made as many as six unforced errors each in the first two games and the count jumped up to nine in the final game even though they beat Ahmedabad comfortably. Paulo Vinicios Silva, Isac Santos, and Michael Sanchez got their serves wrong while applying extra force.
“I think we can serve better. We are going to need to serve better against (Sir Sicom) Perugia. They are good strikers, so maybe to serve better will be a good weapon. But we don’t have to worry about the opponent and focus on ourselves,” Itambe Minas captain said on the need to minimize the unforced errors in their next Pool game.
In the Pool B match, Suntory Sunbirds blanked Turkish club Halkbank Spor Kulubu 25-23, 25-23, 25-16. Minas will next face the defending champions Sir Sicom Perugia on Thursday (December 7) and Ahmedabad will face the Italian side on Friday (December 8).