Chennai, (Samajweekly) The new franchise on the block, the Delhi Toofans stunned the Bengaluru Torpedoes in the third season of the Prime Volleyball League (PVL) here on Sunday, picking up a 15-10, 15-13, 21-20 win over the last year’s runners-up to get their first win of the season. Delhi were on the offensive straightaway with Lazar Dodic making powerful spikes to get his side ahead.
The Toofans got rid of the first-day jitters, as Aayush Kasnia made well-timed blocks to put his side in control. Danial Aponza began making an impact from the middle, further increasing Delhi’s lead.
Trailing behind, Bengaluru changed tactics. Thomas Heptinstall found his groove with attacks, and with Sethu TR serving aggressively, the Torpedoes found a door for themselves. Srajan Shetty became more involved in defence and with strong blocks, Bengaluru returned to the hunt. David Lee’s counter-attacking strategy was tackled by Delhi’s defense led by skipper Saqlain Tariq and the Toofans once again inched ahead. Player of the Match Santhosh served and stepped forward for a powerful spike as Delhi took complete control of the proceedings.
The Torpedoes showed resistance as Paulo Lamounier kept the game in the middle allowing Mujeeb and Srajan to make gutsy blocks. Rohit Kumar built pressure from the service line to help Delhi. The topsy-turvy game came to a close as Aponza dominated from the middle and Delhi Toofans recorded their first win of the season.
