Pro Volleyball League preview: Kochi looking to continue domination as they face resilient Ahmedabad Defenders

Kochi, February 5: After a dominant performance in the opening game of the league Mohan Ukkrapandian-led Kochi Blue Spikers will face Ahmedabad Defenders in their second match of the RuPay Pro Volleyball League on Wednesday (February 6).

After a spirited performance against Black Hawks Hyderabad, Ahmedabad Defenders will be hopeful they can continue the momentum and come out stronger against Kochi in their second fixture to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.

Kochi showed their mettle in the first match as the team's core including Olympic Gold medalist David Lee, Manu Joseph, Andrej Patuc, Prabagaran S all came up with their 'A' game leading to a 4-1 victory against U Mumba Volley.

Ahead of the match, head coach TC Jyotish, "The team's morale is high and we are really looking forward to play Ahmedabad who had a good outing against Hyderabad. We have spent time analysing their style of play and have got our strategy in place to counter their strengths. We need to make sure that we stick to our game plan and make it work."

The league, which is an initiative of Baseline Ventures and Volleyball Federation of India, began on February 2.

All the teams have played a match each in the Opening Week of the @RuPay_npci Pro Volleyball League and we've had some amazing moments. Which was your favorite match of the three? #RuPayPVL #ThrillKaCall@SPNSportsIndia @SonyLIV pic.twitter.com/OY0CMUwMfR

— Pro Volleyball (@ProVolleyballIN) February 5, 2019

Despite losing with a narrow margin, Ahmedabad can take many positives from their first encounter as the foreign imports Serbian Novica Bjelica and Russian Victor Sysoev scored 6 and 12 points respectively. Young Sayyad Mubarak Ali scored five points displaying immaculate spiking ability and Gagandeep Singh showed his all-around ability with points on spike, block and serve.

Ajay Jangra, head coach of Ahmedabad Defenders felt that the first match against Hyderabad showed their team's never-say-die spirit.

"I believe the first match was a see-saw battle, and there was little or no differentiator between the two sides. To their credit, Hyderabad held their own in the last set and won the match. We are only looking to put our best foot forward in the match against Kochi."

Kochi Blue Spikers vs Ahmedabad Defenders

Wednesday, February 6 at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kochi

Match starts at 7pm

Live on SONY SIX/ SONY TEN 3

Live streaming on SONY LIV