Al Arabi Sports Club rallied from behind twice to record a hard-fought 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-19, 15-11 win over Qatar Sports Club in the Qatar Volleyball League on Saturday.

Playing at home, Arabi were hard-pressed to put it across their opponents, who came out all guns blazing in the first set.

However, Qatar SC could not capitalise on the great start and went behind in the second set. But they once again picked up momentum to win the third set in a thriller.

However, from then on, it was all downhill for the team in yellow, and they surrendered the fourth and fifth sets without much of a fight.

Numerous service errors, as well as failure by their attackers to find open spaces in the Arabi court, proved to be their undoing.

Arabi, on the other hand, delivered when it mattered the most. Their attackers — Brazilian Goiano Geraldo and Bulgarian Valentin Bratoev — did the bulk of the work, especially in the last two sets.

The Qatar SC players, who had defended stoutly in the first and third sets, suddenly found themselves short of answers against the inspired Arabi attack.

Qatar SC’s Australian recruit Samuel Walker and Youssef Oughlef proved to be their most active players. Both were initially on target but faltered after Arabi tightened their defensive game.

In the evening’s first match, Al Wakrah notched a comfortable 25-17, 25-21, 25-20 win over Al Shamal.

While Venezuelan Ivan Jose Fernandez Anez secured a large percentage of their points, his compatriot Hector Salemo and Nikola Vasic also made useful contributions.

The League will resume on Wednesday with a match between Al Gharafa and Al Sadd.