PVL: Chennai Spartans beat Kochi Blue Spikers, enters final

Chennai, Feb 20 (PTI): Chennai Spartans edged out Kochi Blue Spikers in a five-set thriller 3-2 (16-14, 9-15, 10-15, 15-8, 15-13) to qualify for the final of the inaugural Pro Volleyball League here Wednesday where it will meet Calicut Heroes.

With 17 points, Ruslans Sorokins was the top-scorer for Chennai Spartans (15 spikes, 1 block, 1 serve) while Kochi's Manu Joseph also scored 17 points (16 spikes, 1 block) for Kochi.

The home team was in a spot of bother when it was down by two sets to one, but bounced back strongly to take the fourth and nailed an exciting final set to secure a spot in Friday's summit clash against .

The teams were level-pegging in the first set and at 6-6 a well placed serve by Sorokins created the first opening.

Chennai went into the first Technical Time Out (TTO) leading 8-7. Kochi called for a Super Point immediately after TTO and converted with a Prabagaran spike.

Prabagaran followed it up with another spike on their serve and Kochi now held a 10-8 lead. Chennai called for a Super Point at 9-11 and Rudy Verhoeff converted with a thunderous spike to level the score at 11-11.

It was nail-biting action for the last few points but Chennai finally prevailed and won the first set 16-14.

The second set followed a similar script in the initial stages before the Kochi team forged ahead and won it handily at 15-9.

The third set saw Kochi race to a 3-0 lead. Down 3-7 in the set, Chennai called for a Super Point and converted. Kochi kept its nose in front and moved ahead.

In the fourth set, Chennai took command after the early skirmishes and won it 15-8 to force the decider.

Chennai had the momentum in the fifth, but the two teams fought hard. The score stood at 12-11 in Chennai's favour and from there they won the match 15-13 to qualify for the final