Azerrail and Lokomotiv remain unbeaten in the GM Challenge Cup

Lokomotiv and Azerrail played their first games of the GM Challenge Cup Round of 8 on Tuesday.

In the first match of the day in Baku, Lokomotiv outclassed Cypriot side Apollon Limassol in straight sets, 25:19, 25:15, 25:18.

Meanwhile, in the second match of the day in Ukraine, visiting Azerrail defeated Khimik 3:0 (25:14, 25:18, 25:13).

Azerrail quickly took control of the first set, opening with a 6:2 run. The host team fought back to tie the game at eight, but Azerrail answered by scoring nine of the next eleven points and cruised to the comfortable 25:14 set win.

Elisangela Pereira and Jennifer Tamas led Azerrail to a quick start in the second set with series of kills and blocks that allowed Baku team to grab a 10:5 lead. Khimik battled back to close the gap to three at the 11:8 mark before Azerrail stretched its lead to nine, 21:12, on a kill by Rahimova. Ukrainian team kept fighting late in the set, using a pair of blocks to cut Azerrail lead to five, 22:17, but it was too little too late and Azerrail closed the set, 25:18.

The third set was as one-sided as it could be as Ukrainian team couldn't penetrate blocks put up by Pereira, Tamas and Petkova. In fact, the first three points scored by Khimik was a result of service errors committed by Azerrail players. Down by twelve points, 3:15, a 5:2 rally by Khimik closed the margin to 8:17, but three kills by Polina Rahimova down the stretch lifted Azerrail to a 25:13 victory.

The third Azerbaijani representative in the GM Challenge Cup will face off against Romanian Stiinta Bacau tomorrow in Romania.