In the volleyball Challenge Cup, LP Kangasala beat Maccabi Haifa directly in three sets. The match had twice the number of orderlies compared to normal.
LP Kangasala beat Israeli Maccabi Haifa 3–0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20) in the volleyball CVE Challenge Cup at their home court.
LP Kangasala central defender Netta Rekolan according to the game was under the control of the home team throughout the match.
– We got the offensive game rolling well against the opponent’s blocking defense. Puri’s pass was also good today.
The home team’s number one scorer had scored 21 points Ida Pöllänen.
The second leg will be played in Kangasalan Arena on Thursday. The winner of the match pair advances to the top eight and will next face either Italy’s Chieri or Spain’s Sant Cugat.
Extraordinary security measures
Because of the Israeli opponent, the security arrangements for the match were tighter than usual.
Security for the Israeli teams has been on the back burner since Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last week.
Initially, the matches between LP Kangasala and Maccabi Haifa were canceled because Haifa did not consider it possible to participate in European matches due to the troubled situation in the country.
In the end, however, confirmation of the team’s arrival in Finland came before the deadline expired a week ago on Sunday. Consequently, Kangasala had to restart the arrangements that had already been stopped once.
Tuesday’s match event went smoothly, but Haifa’s last-minute announcement of participation brought its own challenges to the arrangements.
– It’s been a tough rumba. The work of two and a half weeks was now completed in a week, manager of LP Kangasala Jari Huurne told Urheilu after the match.
– However, this is done on a team basis, and with the exception of the head coach, we all have another main job. Quite a few nights have been busy.
According to Huurnee, there were twice as many security guards in the match compared to other home matches. All spectators also underwent a security check.
– The security arrangements were already ready before the events in Amsterdam, and there was no need to make any changes to them after that. Perhaps the authorities made some adjustments to their own activities.
Rekola, on the other hand, assures that LP Kangasala’s players have been able to concentrate on the match normally.
– All along, there has been strong faith in the fact that the club handles things in such a way that we don’t have to worry about anything.