Sporting said goodbye to the CEV Cup this Wednesday, after being eliminated by Nancy in the round of 32 of the European competition. The Lionesses won the second leg, 3-2, at Pavilhão João Rocha, but the 3-1 defeat in the first match, in France, was fatal for them.
The match started off balanced, with Sporting reacting to the visitors’ starting point and taking the lead thanks to moments of brilliance from Jéssica Carriel, Amanda Cavalcanti and Jady Gerotto. The first set was a true thriller, decided on advantages: Sporting ended up winning 28-26, after an exciting end.
The second set confirmed the green and white ascendancy, with the Lionesses showing consistency and prevailing 25-19, thus placing themselves with a 2-0 lead in the match and, consequently, one set away from guaranteeing qualification.
From then on, the story changed. Nancy reacted and won the third set 25-21, after an initial balance that was lost with the acceleration of the French. In the fourth set, Sporting’s false start, giving up 1-8 from the start, was decisive. The Lionesses tried to react, but were unable to significantly reduce the difference and ended up defeated by 25-10.
With the match at 2-2, elimination was sealed, even though Sporting still won the fifth set 15-12, in a final with no practical impact.
In the Challenge Cup, SC Braga confirmed, with a 3-0 victory, the superiority shown over Ocisa Haro Rioja, in the first leg of the round of 32, played in Spain, where they won 3-1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-16 and 25-21).
This Wednesday, in front of their home crowd, in Braga, the Minho team once again prevailed over the Spanish team, now with the maximum advantage, through splits of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-19.
The player from the Braga team, Patrícia Santos, stood out as the game’s top scorer, with 12, two more than Ocisa Haro Rioja’s Cuban, Thainalien Leyva.
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