06/02/2018 22:27
Galatasaray secure third victory in ‘pool of death’, Dinamo KAZAN make it four in a row
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, February 6, 2018. Turkey’s Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL secured their third victory in four matches they have contested in Pool D this far as action resumed on Tuesday night in the pool stage of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women. The Turks beat Poland’s Grot Budowlani LODZ 3-1 to stay in contention for a spot in the Playoffs. Elsewhere, Russia’s Dinamo KAZAN claimed their fourth straight victory in Pool C as they beat Serbian national champions Vizura RUMA in three sets.
Vizura RUMA (SRB) vs. Dinamo KAZAN (RUS) 0-3 (12-25, 16-25, 18-25)
• Dinamo KAZAN claimed their fourth victory in Pool C while Vizura suffered their third loss.
• Dinamo dominated the game from the beginning of the first set (8-2). Irina Voronkova caused many problems to Vizura with her serve and Dinamo KAZAN moved the score from 16-8 to 21-9, before taking the set 25-12. Dinamo won 20 points in the set and made only three errors, as Vizura scored nine times and made five mistakes of their own.
• In the second set, Dinamo claimed an early 8-3 lead before Vizura cut their deficit to 8-9. The hosts looked more and more in control whereas Dinamo started making mistakes. However, soon Dinamo regrouped and finished the set 25-15. Irina Koroleva scored six blocks in the second set alone.
• Dinamo opened the third set with a massive 8-2 lead but after that, Vizura started to play on a higher level and came close at 10-11. Both teams fought for each point and after trailing 12-16, the hosts came back to 16-18 but again Koroleva was insurmountable at the net.
• Best scorer of the match was Koroleva with 15 points followed by Voronkova with 14. As for the home side, Katarina Lazović scored 10 times.
Dejan Desnica, coach of Vizura RUMA: “It was not an easy game. We relaxed from the middle of the second set and started to play much better. We tried to surprise our opponents with the serve but they were good in reception while Voronkova caused huge problems to us with her jump serve. I must congratulate my players for their performance. They fought to the end but it is not easy to play against a team such as Dinamo.”
Sladjana Eric, captain of Vizura: “From such a game you can actually see where we stand. For me, it was an honour to play against a team such as Dinamo but I am not satisfied with our play. We made mistakes in some elements and this should not have happened. We have two more games in the pool and I hope that we will take some points from them. It is our real ambition and goal.”
Grot Budowlani LODZ (POL) vs. Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL (TUR) 1-3 (9-25, 18-25, 25-13, 15-25)
• Grot Budowlani LODZ lost their fourth straight match in Pool D – as a result, they do not stand anymore a chance of progressing to the Playoffs.
• Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL, on the other hand, improved their win-loss record to 3-1.
• The visitors from Turkey delivered a very solid performance in every aspect of the game and were too much to stand for LODZ, this resulting in a massive 25-9 win in the first set. The second set was a closer affair, but Galatasaray showed their quality towards the end to win it by 25-18.
• In the third set, after leading 17-13, the hosts scored eight points in a row to seal a comprehensive 25-13 win. However, Galatasaray regrouped to claim the fourth set at a canter (25-15) and secure a 3-1 victory.
• Grot Budowlani LODZ played this match without two of their key players, opposite hitter Kaja Grobelna and libero Agata Witkowska.
Błażej Krzyształowicz, coach of Grot Budowlani LODZ: “We have a very difficult group. For us it is an honour to play with some of the best Volleyball teams in the world. Today our game looked good at times. We are happy that we could win one set. We gather experience and this is the most important thing.”
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