Pro Volleyball League: Spurred by Naveen Raja Jacob's heroics, Chennai Spartans edge past Black Hawks Hyderabad

Naveen Raja Jacob was the star of the show as Chennai Spartans thrashed Black Hawks Hyderabad 4-1 for their first win at the Pro Volleyball League on Thursday. Chennai beat Black Hawks 15-12, 15-12, 15-11, 15-10, 13-15 on the sixth day of the competition. [caption id=“attachment_6048261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Chennai Spartans players celebrate a point against the Hyderabad Black Hawks on Thursday. Image courtesy: PVL[/caption] Naveen amassed 16 points (12 spikes and four serve points) and was adjudged the player of the match, while skipper Carson Clark led from the front with 12 points (11 spikes and 1 block) for Hyderabad. Kochi Blue Spikers will take on Black Hawks Hyderabad on 8 February. Chennai, in fact, raced to a four-set lead in the match. By this point they they sensed that they could register the first whitewash of the league. At 8-5, it seemed a genuine possibility. But Hyderabad were somehow hanging in the set. They called for a Super Point at 9-8 and it was Sorokins who won it for Chennai with a spike. Chennai immediately called for the Super Point at 10-9 and gave away the point to Hyderabad as the score stood 11-10 in favour of Hyderabad. Hyderabad didn’t allow this lead to slip and ended the set in their favour at 15-13, winning the only set out of the five.