Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) Goa Guardians returned to winning ways, defeating Kolkata Thunderbolts 15-11, 15-8, 15-6 in the Prime Volleyball League at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Rohit Yadav was named the player of the match. With this victory, the Goa Guardians move up to fourth position on the points table with 11 points.

The Guardians showed their intent straightaway with Prince and Dushyant attacking from the middle zone. In reply, the Thunderbolts positioned Matin Tavalkar to halt Goa’s shots. Jerry Daniel’s super serve edged Goa ahead. Pankaj Sharma sent a missile serve of his own to bring things level once again.

But more service pressure from Chirag Sharma put Goa in the lead. The aggressive display from Goa continued as the game progressed, with Rohit Yadav testing Kolkata’s defence with fiery serves. Prince’s presence on court improved Goa’s blocking.

Between Jerry, Chirag, and Nathaniel Dickinson, setter Rohit found multiple options to set up the ball for spikes. Kolkata brought on Rahul K and Suryansh Tomar to kickstart their counter-attack. But Chirag’s sensational super spike earned Goa a super point, edging them further ahead.

Despite Kolkata’s defence being on point, the Thunderbolts found it hard to tackle Goa’s relentless attacks. Dushyant’s presence added more depth to Goa’s defence. Dickinson’s super serve further stretched the difference between the two teams. Despite late service pressure from Kolkata’s Rahul K, Goa eked out a solid 3-0 victory with another super serve from Jerry.

–IANS

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