The Canarian derbies between CV Tenerife Libby’s and Hydramar Gran Canaria are always a reflection of spectacle and emotion between the two great dominators of the Iberdrola League in recent years where Laguneras and Gran Canarias have shared the majority of the domestic titles.
The last two champion teams of the Iberdrola League meet again this Saturday (6:00 p.m.) at the Pablos Abril Pavilion, in a duel framed in fourth day of the league competition which they arrive as third in the case of the Olympic team and seventh in that of the Haris. The match will also serve as a general rehearsal for the Super Cup final between both teams at the Santiago Martín de La Laguna on November 1.
CV Hidramar Gran Canaria arrives at the event after recovering from its elimination from the Champions League – although the team will continue competing in the CEV Cup – with a hard-fought victory at home against Haro Rioja (3-2). Despite the irregularity in their game, the Gran Canarian team is one of the three teams in the domestic competition that have not yet lost this season, along with their neighbors Heidelberg Volkswagen and DSV CV Sant Cugat.
The yellow offensive trio formed by their captain Saray Manzano – included in the ideal seven of the third day -, along with Sulián Matienzo and Heloiza Pereira, is life insurance for a team that will once again try to return to the path of the three points against a strong rival such as Laguneras.
For its part, the renewed new Haris project, starting with the presence of the absolute men’s coach, Michael Riveraat the controls of the team and the signings of the former Olympic team, Raquel Montoro and Ariadna Priantethey give the duel a dose of a certain morbidity for experiencing a reunion on the track in which anything is possible.
The Laguneras arrive at the event as seventh classified after a difficult start in which they began by losing at home on their visit to Cajasol (3-0), but recovered by beating Avarca de Menorca at home (3-0) and falling in the sudden death against Sant Cugat (3-2).
Marcos Dreyer: “Tenerife is the worst rival we could face and also playing away from home”
In the words of the Brazilian coach of CV Hidramar Gran Canaria, “the worst rival we could have awaits them, which is Tenerife and also playing away from home, due to the history we have experienced in recent seasons, in which the titles are distributed with us and fighting at home.” “The worse the game is, the more exciting it is for us and the more motivating,” Dreyer acknowledges.
For the Olympic strategist, Haris has changed a lot with the arrival of Miguel Rivera to the La Laguna bench. “The team has changed quite a bit in general, it maintains a base of important players among which Belly and Lisbet Arredondo stand out, they have made good signings, but it is a team that is still in the training period and the irregularity they are having is completely normal”.
Despite the irregularity of the Tenerife team – seventh classified -, the Brazilian warns that: “I have already suffered them many times, even sometimes having more problems than they have now, they always compete very well, they have players who are capable of transfer that competitive gene to the entire team and they go out to fight, that’s why I always wait for the best Tenerife.”
Regarding the current moment of his team, the Brazilian acknowledges that they are being “very irregular, we give good and bad moments in sets.” “Both the match against Haro and the 3-2 against Brno and Sayre are proof of this, there are sets that we win calmly and then although we have a good level we cannot maintain it for long and that is what we have to achieve, it is something that we have to manage to maintain throughout the game against Haris, because it is going to be a war.
Despite the proximity of the Super Cup against the Laguneras, Dreyer is clear that “both they and we are focused now on improving our teams, I have enough problems trying to improve my team than making plans for the future.” .
Andrea Arocha: “The key to beating Haris is to control our mistakes and our game”
The CV Hidramar Gran Canaria libero acknowledges that they are looking forward to the new Canarian derby against Haris “with great enthusiasm, it is a team that we have always respected and with which we have a healthy rivalry.” “We are trying to get a feel for Europe and the truth is that after beating Haro at home we traveled to Tenerife with a positive mentality to face the match,” acknowledges the Gran Canarian.
For Andrea Arocha, the key to overcoming the Laguneras lies in “controlling our mistakes and our game, because if we manage to control our game well and compete at the level we know how, we can have a much easier time winning the derby.”
In her new role as starter, “I feel very good, I usually work well under pressure and I am very happy.” “I try very hard in all the training sessions, learning a lot from my teammates and the coaches,” the libero acknowledges.
The Olympic player acknowledges that her coach, Marcos Dreyer, always advises her to “stay calm, confident and that nothing happens if I make a mistake, as long as I am able to remedy it in the next one.”
Arocha also gets wet with the prediction in the Canarian derby and affirms with a smile that “I trust my team a lot and I am sure that if we play like we usually do we will win it ourselves.”
