17/10/2017 22:52
Imoco Volley claim emphatic victory as 3 rookies crown CL debut with success
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, October 17, 2017. The silver medallists from the 2017 edition of the CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women, Italy’s Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO started their 2018 campaign in Europe’s elite competition in emphatic style as they routed Hungary’s national champions in three quick sets to assert their high ambitions in the tournament. Rookies SLIEDRECHT Sport and Developres SkyRes RZESZOW crowned their CL debuts with home and away victories over opponents from Belgium and Israel, respectively. Slovenia’s Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR celebrated a successful premiere as well with an away victory in Bosnia and Herzegovina while Minchanka MINSK came from behind to claim a closely contested matchup with France’s Rocheville LE CANNET. All respective away matches are coming up this Saturday and will determine the sides progressing to the third round of the competition.
Linamar-BÉKÉSCSABAI RS KFT (HUN) vs. Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO (ITA) 0-3 (4-25, 10-25, 17-25)
The 2017 silver medallists from Italy were simply too much to stand for Hungary’s national champions and the star-studded team of Imoco Volley rallied to a comfortable 3-0 victory to start their CL journey this season.
Alberto Salomoni, head coach of Linamar-BÉKÉSCSABAI RS KFT: “At the beginning of the match we played awfully, but I think this can happen to anyone when you play against one of the best teams in Europe. On top of this, most of our players were making their debut in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. As for the return game on Saturday, I would like to see my team performing the same way as they did in the third set.”
Kimberly Hill, player of Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO and top scorer of the match with 17 points: “We had a very good match here in Hungary. We were focussing on our side of the net, getting better with our game and I think we did a very good job with that. We had no expectations and we have another match against the same opponent coming up this weekend and I am looking forward to that.”
Daniele Santarelli, head coach of Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO: “I am happy because I think we played a good match. Our serve made the difference but we know that this fixture is not over yet since there is another match coming up this weekend in Italy. Our goal is to make it to the third round and from there on to the group stage of this competition.”
ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO (BIH) vs. Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO) 0-3 (17-25, 13-25, 22-25)
The 14-time Slovenian national champions from Maribor celebrated a successful CL premiere as they comfortably claimed the ‘derby’ with ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO in three sets. They made the difference with their mighty blocks (11 vs. two for the hosts) as two of their players finished the match in double digits –with Iza Mlakar and Ela Pintar scoring 17 and 10 times, respectively.
Ana Gajić, player of ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo, was obviously disappointed after the game. “I am sorry that we left our home fans disappointed. We started this match with some optimism, but we failed to deliver in the first two sets. In third set, on the other hand, we came back and started to execute the tactics we had agreed upon with our coaching staff, but that was eventually not enough for a better result. We congratulate Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR on their victory, and we will try to make up for this loss during the re-match on Saturday in Slovenia.”
SLIEDRECHT Sport (NED) vs. Asterix Avo BEVEREN (BEL) 3-2 (25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 23-25, 15-13)
SLIEDRECHT Sport and Asterix Avo BEVEREN delivered a real drama in the first episode of this match anticipated ‘derby’ where both teams were making their historic debut in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. The hosts from the Netherlands could not capitalise on a 2-0 lead and failed to close the match in three sets – but showed nerves of steel in a closely contested tiebreak to seal a 3-2 victory, waiting now for the re-match coming up on Saturday in Belgium.
Matt van Wezel, head coach of SLIEDRECHT Sport: “I think we played at an amazing level for two and a half sets, higher than we ever did before in any other competition. We had a good plan for this game and the players executed it, so I am happy with that. Unfortunately, we could not keep that same level for five sets – we did have our chances in the third and fourth sets, but we made mistakes and did not capitalise on such chances. In the end, we won 3-2 but I think we could have made it in three or four sets too. As we struggled, I told my players to keep their heads high because we were playing good Volleyball. We made a few adjustments and we kept on fighting – and my players did this in an amazing way. Lisa [Vossen] and Brechtje [Kraaijvanger] came in as subs and they did a great job.”
Hapoel KFAR SABA (ISR) vs. Developres SkyRes RZESZOW (POL) 1-3 (20-25, 28-30, 32-30, 13-25)
In a matchup featuring two CL rookies, Developres SkyRes RZESZOW emerged victorious in four sets to get an edge ahead of the re-match coming up on Saturday in Poland.
Chen Himmelfarb, head coach of Hapoel KFAR SABA: “I have to congratulate the winners. It was our first official match this season and we played a high-level game. We did many good things, and we should take positives from this match; however, there were also things that were not as good and we have to improve on. We played a strong opponent but we can be proud of what we did tonight. There was a full house tonight and I think this match brought some extra honour to Israeli Volleyball and to the city of Kfar Saba as well. I would like to thank all those who helped deliver this match. We will fly to Poland on Thursday and do our best there.”
Rocheville LE CANNET (FRA) vs. Minchanka MINSK (BLR) 2-3 (22-25, 27-25, 25-22, 26-28, 13-15)
Minchanka MINSK came back from a 1-2 deficit in their matchup with Rocheville LE CANNET to claim a hard-fought 3-2 victory, which bodes well for the return match coming up on Saturday in the Belarusian capital. Their middle blocker Anzhelika Barysevich – who had made her mark at the 2017 women’s EuroVolley in Azerbaijan and Georgia where Belarus achieved a historic seventh place, their best result to date – top scored with 21 points.
Rocheville LE CANNET had an opportunity to close the match in their favour but failed to capitalise on a match ball they had in the fourth set – and even arguing with the referees about an alleged touch by the Belarusian block on a spike by Matea Ikic did not help. The hosts were able to regroup in the tiebreak and edged ahead at 13-12, but they paid a high price for the fatigue and for the short time that they have spent together, two weeks only, eventually losing 2-3 on three straight points scored by Minchanka.
Marie-France Garreau-Djé, player of Rocheville LE CANNET: “It is obviously a big disappointment because we gave everything we had. Anyway, we will travel to Belarus later this week determined to win the re-match with Minchanka.”
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