Chennai: Calicut Heroes sealed a comprehensive 15-11, 8-15, 15-8, 15-11 win over Ahmedabad Defenders to stay in the hunt for the Super 5s in the Prime Volleyball League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Friday. Jerome Vinith was named the Player of the Match.
The battle of outside hitters kicked off the encounter in high gear with Max Senica firing for Ahmedabad, while Chirag Yadav kept the game balanced. Senica's aggressive serves provided the Defenders a chance to push forward. But Perotto's super serve kept Calicut levelled, and Jerome smashes helped Calicut get an early lead.
Angamuthu and Nandhagopal added fuel to their attacks, as the defending champions started making their way back. Angamuthu returned to his best form on the night, and kept beating the Calicut blockers. Muthusamy's super serve stunned the Calicut defence and Ahmedabad bounced back in style. Chirag stepped up for Calicut, as he began making powerful smashes to trouble Ahmedabad's defence. Danial's presence in the middle made it harder for Ahmedabad to play freely.
A couple of errors from Nandha helped the game turn in Calicut's favour, and with Ukkrapandia's clever play, the wheels began coming off for Ahmedabad. Chirag's pipe attack proved hard for Manoj to tackle, while the Defenders did not help themselves with unforced errors. Vikas Maan's blocks shackled Ahmedabad, and Ukkra helped his side in defence. Jerome continued his great form to help his team seal the win.