20/02/2018 10:46
Big match between Galatasaray and Dinamo to highlight another exciting #CLVolleyW night
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, February 20, 2018. The pool stage of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women resumes on Tuesday with three matches and much at stake since teams are fighting for one of six much-coveted spots to compete in the Playoffs of Europe’s elite competition. Titleholders VakifBank ISTANBUL will be vying for their fifth victory in as many matches when playing Grot Budowlani LODZ in Poland. Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL and Dinamo MOSCOW will contest another exciting match in Pool D as these sides fight for progression to the next round. Vizura RUMA will be hoping to use the home-court advantage to claim their second victory in as many matches with Bulgaria’s national champions Maritza PLOVDIV in Pool C.
Vizura RUMA (SRB) vs. Maritza PLOVDIV (BUL)
• Vizura RUMA hope for their second victory over Maritza PLOVDIV in Pool C. This time around, they will play on home soil. On the other hand, Maritza PLOVDIV are still looking for their first win in Pool C.
• In the first match between the two teams, Vizura RUMA outplayed the opponents from Bulgaria’s second largest city with a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 25-13).
• In the last round of the CEV Champions League, Vizura suffered a loss to Dinamo KAZAN while Maritza played five sets and eventually lost to Chemik POLICE.
• In the Serbian Volleyball Superleague, Vizura have a record of 16 wins and one loss only – while Maritza PLOVDIV have an impeccable record of 11 wins in as many matches in their national championship.
• Both teams are the reigning champions of their respective countries.
Katarina Lazović, the most talented young player in Vizura RUMA: “We believe we can claim another victory over Maritza and I really hope for the best. Maritza have a good team and for sure, they are not easy opponents at all. I think that they will give more resistance than they showed in the first game when we played them in Bulgaria. This time we will play at home; we expect full stands and a lot of support from the audience and that always means a lot to us. The better team will win in the end but I expect a good match.”
Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS)
• Galatasaray currently sit in second place in Pool D on nine points, with Dinamo MOSCOW following in third on four points.
• Galatasaray have swept three matches in a row in Pool D after losing the season opener to city rivals VakifBank ISTANBUL.
• Two weeks ago, Galatasaray beat Grot Budowlani LODZ with outside hitter Dobriana Rabadzhieva and middle blocker Sinead Jack scoring 14 points apiece.
• Two weeks ago, Dinamo MOSCOW visited Istanbul and lost 2-3 to VakifBank, with Nataliya Goncharova scoring 22 points.
• Earlier in the season, Galatasaray beat Dinamo 3-1 in Moscow.
• Galatasaray lost their last match in the Turkish national league to Besiktas (2-3) while Dinamo easily beat Leningradka 3-0. Galatasaray sit in fourth place in the Turkish league whereas Dinamo MOSCOW finished their regular season in second place before beating Leningradka in the quarterfinals.
Ataman Güneyligil, head coach of Galatasaray: “At the beginning of the season we identified some goals we wanted to reach and even though we did not start the season as we wanted, we always continued to work hard. Thus, now we are almost playing the game we wanted and we would like to improve our performance even further in order to reach the goals that we are pursuing. We know that this match will be harder than the previous one. By taking one point from their match with VakifBank, Dinamo gained an important advantage in the group but one way or the other we must win this game to increase our chances to progress to the next stage of the competition.”
Grot Budowlani LODZ (POL) vs. VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR)
• VakifBank ISTANBUL are hoping to secure their fifth victory in as many matches they have contested in a highly competitive Pool D this far.
• Back in early January, VakifBank claimed a 3-1 home victory over LODZ. Zhu Ting and Kaja Grobelna top scored on that occasion for VakifBank and Grot Budowlani with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
• Grot Budowlani LODZ have lost four matches in a row this far in Pool D. This is their last home match this season – and they will once more take to the court of the iconic Atlas Arena, one of Poland’s Volleyball ‘Meccas’.
• VakifBank’s superstar Zhu Ting is the third best scorer in the competition this far with 84 points – two short of Polina Rahimova of Fenerbahce SK ISTANBUL with Ana Cleger of CSM Volei Alba BLAJ leading the way with 102.
Agnieszka Kąkolewska, middle blocker of Grot Budowlani LODZ: “VakifBank is a much stronger opponent than the teams we play in the Polish league. We have to play 100%. We will give everything we have. If we do so, the result will follow. We will definitely fight in this game.”
How to follow the matches...
Watch them live: http://cev.laola1.tv/
Click here for a comprehensive TV schedule.
Live score, statistics, reports and photos: all available on www.cev.lu
Social Media: Follow via the official event hashtag (#CLVolleyW) with the most regular updates coming on our competition Twitter account @CEVolleyballCL
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