JOIN USDepartment of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) went down fighting against Postal 19-25, 25-27, 8-25 but still emerged winners of the first phase of Karnataka Volleyball League (KVL) at the Chamundeshwari grounds, Jayanagar, here on Wednesday.
Ending their campaign with 12 points from five matches (four wins and a loss), DYES took the honours while Postal rounded off the first leg with seven points from five matches.
In an earlier match, holders Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) got the better of Madras Engineer Group (MEG) 25-19, 27-25, 25-20.
BSNL finished their quota of matches with eight points while MEG remained static at three from five matches on account of the defeat.
The defending champions were given a stiff challenge by MEG all through the game but it just wasn’t enough to put the brakes on the rampaging BSNL attackers.
Prince KS and Akhil B gave the Sappers the initial impetus with a flurry of smashes as they built up a 8-5 lead.
However, BSNL started the resurgence with skipper TD Ravikumar, as expected, throwing his weight into the contest, pounding the MEG defence at will as BSNL bagged the set at 25-19.
The second set was an even closer affair with BSNL calling all the shots in the early stages with Maruthi G Nayak joining the party.
With a 9-5 lead, BSNL had their tails up before the MEG attackers pulled things back a little through Bipin and Arul Selvan who unleashed a few good smashes at the BSNL defence.
It was even stevens at 18-18 and then 24-24 a few minutes later as the set got closer but BSNL handled the nerves better to close it out at 27-25.
Both teams fought hard in the third set as well with the pendulum swinging back and forth.
Akhil and Packiaraj put on an impressive show for MEG but that was neutralised by BSNL through the work of Ravikumar and Satish.
At 16-16, it was anybody’s game but BSNL pulled away from that situation to come out triumphant at 25-20.
DH News Service
Results: BSNL bt MEG 25-19, 27-25, 25-20; Postal bt DYES 25-19, 27-25, 25-8.