ValePa lost a glorious ship, Savo Volley rose almost from the grave – Cat and mouse play continued in volleyball finals

VaLePa, who took the last four men’s volleyball championships in Finland, seemed to be advancing in the style of the Finnish Championship gold, but the tenacious Savo Volley caught fire and took the last three rounds to level 3–3 in the final series. The sixth final was marked 3–2 for the Savoans (20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-13).

– We were pretty back to back against the wall, but in the booth it was agreed (on a break after two batches) that we would give our all. We started defending, fighting, securing and, without the ball, doing more work, that is, helping a guy. Great performance from the team, praised the captain of Savo Volley Antti Siltalawho scored 16 points in the winning match.

Vammala’s strong volleyball pass at first nibble on the opponent’s self-confidence, and Savo Volley did not get the best defensive defense in the two opening rounds. The best player in the final series Sakari Mäkinen did at that point on the field, almost what he wanted.

In the first installment Severi Savonsalmen with a long feed shift, VaPePa tore the required gap to the Savoans and escaped to the 17–13 lead in the flash. At that time, VaLePa already had four aces in the statistics. The home team managed to use a wide range of materials even after that, taking the lot to their names without difficulty, reading 25–20 when Savo Volley’s reception got stuck.

Overall player Sakari Mäkinen played a prominent role in the second installment and winged VaLePa on the run. In addition to the punches, Mäkinen’s pass went and the defense worked excellently. In the 12-7 situation, he already scored his sixth defensive point in the match. Coach of Savo Volley Timo Tolvanen I switched to a new passer, chipper, and all-in-one player at the 6-10 loss spot – nothing helped. Lot for VallePale crushing 25–16.

During the long break, Savo Volley got in the way and made small tactical changes, playing with three all-around players, among others. The guests led the third round all the time by a few points. Especially from the sixth place, Savo Volley hit effectively. The defense of the Savoans was more active and clearly more effective than before. Lot for guests 25-20.

– VaLePa was really ready for the start of the match, when we just watched the balls fall for them. But that’s not the way to go. We have to put the cell underneath, as VaLePak did. During the game break, I might have fallen inside the knuckle, I don’t say where I hit it, but I wanted that when fighting for a championship, the game should look like that too. In addition, we found a suitable relaxation and enjoyment of the game towards the end, bundled Savo Volley’s coach Tolvanen.

The fourth installment progressed steadily all the way to 16-16 until Miki Jauhiainen with the feeds, Savo Volley tore the five-point difference in an instant and escaped to 21-17. Antti Siltala finally hit the guests 25–22, leveling the big score to 2–2.

In the decisive fifth installment, Savo Volley immediately took the 5–2 lead and won the installment and match victory in numbers 15–13 when Jakub Kovac, Michael Michelau and Andrus Raadik succeeded and Siltala played a great betting game. ValePan’s attacking game was a chipper Matias Tihumäki depending on that, not one was enough. Sakari Mäkinen scored a whopping 31 points for VaLePa, while Tihumäki scored 16 points.

– They put Michelau as a chipper and we couldn’t play against them. We hadn’t played against a spruce like that before. Savo also started to take more risk in the feed. The game turned out totally, and we weren’t as bold anymore as we were at first. Our game was also made more difficult because we could no longer get the defensive defense in order, the captain of VaLePa explained. Mikko Esko.

Siltala and Savo Volley Olli-Pekka Ojansivun, 34, the championship dreams still survived. The career of both veterans ends this season due to injuries. One thing is still missing from Siltala – he did not win any Finnish championship in his main career career that began in 2001. That may change on Saturday.

– On Saturday, the input and output game decides a lot. Today we were in the moonlight for the first two installments. I don’t feel anything in the body, I’m making a ten-year extension contract, 38-year-old Siltala grinned broadly at the end of the interview.