Hurrikaani-Loimaa leads the volleyball Championship League final series against Akaa-Volley with a 2–0 victory. On Friday, the hurricane claimed a 3-1 away victory.
Only once in the history of the volleyball league’s playoffs has a team won the championship after losing the first and second matches in the finals.
Thus, Akaa-Volley, who lost 1-3 to Hurrikaani-Loimaa in their home gym on Friday, has a massive mountain to climb.
In many ways, the match was a repeat of the first final in Loimaa. Akaa-Volley chopper Matej Smidl was by far the best scorer, but Hurikaan had a wider front of solvers.
Smidl scored 27 points, but second best Jere Heiskanen fell short by 10 points.
Hurricane’s most effective was the general player Greg Petty with 16 points. The midfielders, who excelled in Loimaa, were excellent again. Daena’s Gyimah made 15 and Miika Haapaniemi 14 points. Chopper Eetu Häyrinen scored 14 and the pass that ended the match from the second match ball Santeri Välimaa 10 points.
– We passed well. It helped a lot. The central players were brilliant again, said general player Petty Ruudulle.
The percentage of Hurricane’s successful attacks was no less than 62. Neither midfielder made an attacking mistake, Gyimah scored nine out of 10 passes and Haapaniemi scored six points out of seven passes.
The opening set already gave the guidelines for the match. Hurricane repelled three points in a row and didn’t look back after that. Akaa-Volley dominated the second set and led it for a long time, but Hurikaani got up and got two set points. Smidl had 16 points at the break, while the visitors’ best was seven points.
Neither team has ever won a championship. Hurikaani has won silver five times, Akaa-Volley once, last season.
The third match will be played already on Saturday in Akaa. If the Hurricane wins, it has a chance to win the championship in the fourth final on Tuesday.
It was almost 40 years ago that the last time they rose from a 0–2 loss position to the championship in the finals. In 1986, Seinäjoki won the championship against Pieksämäki with a 3–2 win after first losing two matches in a row.