The Division A1 men’s volleyball championship ended on Monday evening, in the city at the foot of Tâmpei, after a four-match final between Corona Brașov and CSM Arcada. After 2-1 on aggregate, the decisive game desired by the Galatasaray team did not take place
CSM Arcada lost the title to a team that far surpassed its condition. A newly promoted team, well prepared, hardworking and full of ambition. The last two games, the ones in Brașov, sealed the fate of this final. There were two games of concentration, determination, confidence, hope, stakes and morale, with falls and comebacks, but above all, they were contests with quality volleys.
The competition had a predictable ending, where the best teams of this season continued their dispute until the final whistle. The atmosphere in the Brasov hall was one that characterizes the great disputes, under the same auspices being the first two games of the final, the ones in Galați. Only, this time, the difference in potential between the two combatants was on the side of the team that finished at the top of the domestic volleyball hierarchy.
First match, zero failure
On Sunday evening, in the third match of the final (the first in the series from Brașov), Corona achieved a morale victory, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20), against a team that did not succeed to rise to the level of the hosts. In the three sets, the superiority of Laurențiu Lică’s students was obvious, they always led and, unfortunately for Arcada, without jeopardizing their advantage on the table.
Coach Sergiu Stancu tried the whole team during this match: Bala, Nikula, Woch, Aldea, Gergye, Lescov – Toman (libero), plus those on the bench – Javad, Mihălescu, Butnaru, Talpă, Hamacher, Lopes and Cristudor. In the end, the better team won!
Mirel Zaharescuthe manager of Club Arcada, takes a short x-ray: “We lost a match after 1-1 in Galati, but there was still hope. For the fourth match (on Monday night – no) we had to mobilize in an exemplary manner, for a befitting reply the potential of a champion team in five consecutive seasons.
Final net favorable to Brașov
We start with the coach’s statement Sergiu Stancushort and to the point: “Although we started the fourth match well and won the first set, after a fierce and tense contest, Corona came back down the stretch and tipped the balance in its favor. We will have to settle down and come back stronger. “
After 26-24 for the Galatasarays in the first set – a pale glimmer of hope – unfortunately for Arcada, the hosts came back even stronger, proving what has been shown throughout the season: Corona is a hard team to beat. Next it was a fierce dispute, with some moments of balance on the table, until 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19) and also 3-1 overall.
The team from Brașov, trained by Laurențiu Lică from Galaţi, prevailed against a team coached by a Brașov resident – Sergiu Stancu.
In the final ranking, CSM Arcada had to settle for the runner-up medals, and Corona Brașov became the champion of Romania for the 2023-2024 season.
