20/03/2018 11:22
Treviso and Istanbul to host momentous start of #CLVolleyW Playoffs 6
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, March 20, 2018. Six elite teams are fighting for three spots available to compete at the Final Four of this year’s CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women in Bucharest. CSM Volei Alba BLAJ will be hosting the event in the Romanian capital on May 5-6 and the real sensation of this year’s #CLVolleyW are surely following closely the Playoffs 6 as they wait to know the name of their opponent in the semis. Two Italian teams – Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA and Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO – will be taking to the court on Wednesday night with the ‘Panthers’ hosting Russia’s heavyweight Dinamo KAZAN at home and NOVARA taking on Galatasaray SK in Istanbul. There is much to look forward to for fans as Europe’s Volleyball elite fight for progression to the ‘grand finale’ of an already exciting season.
Galatasaray SK ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (ITA)
• Galatasaray finished second in Pool D with a record of four wins and two losses – both to city rivals VakifBank ISTANBUL. Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA finished first in Pool B with five straight wins after losing their opening match to Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO.
• As they lost 1-3 to VakifBank their last match in Pool D, Neslihan Demir Güler and Tatiana Kosheleva top scored for Galatasaray with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
• On the other hand, NOVARA finished first in Pool B after recording a 3-1 home victory over Imoco Volley, with as many as 29 points from their star player Paola Egonu.
• Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA just claimed their last match in the Italian national league (3-1) with Il Bisonte FIRENZE. Galatasaray, on the other hand, lost 0-3 to VakifBank in the Playoff semis of the Turkish league.
• The current head coach of NOVARA, Massimo Barbolini, worked with Galatasaray from 2013 to 2015; he previously coached Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL and the Turkish women’s national team as well.
• Katarzyna Skorupa, the setter of the Italian team, played for Fenerbahce SK ISTANBUL in the 2015-2016 season.
Galatasaray SK team manager Şükrü Yengil: “We have reached this phase of the competition by making it through the ‘pool of death’. We played tough games in our group but tomorrow maybe we will play the hardest of them all. NOVARA is one of the best teams in the Italian League and they recently won the Italian Cup as well. They have talented, young, strong and passionate players under the leadership of our ex-coach and friend Massimo Barbolini. On the other hand, we have experienced players and hard-working staff that have been able to cope with all challenges this far. From the beginning of the season, our team has been working extremely hard in order to progress to the Final Four and now we have just one more step ahead of us. Tomorrow with the support of our fans we want to take the right advantage before the away match in Italy.”
Stephanie Enright, player of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA: “We expect a hard and long match in Istanbul. I am sure this game will be a tough one. We are much focused on achieving the goals we have set. We are used to playing high-level games because we have been playing many such matches in Italy and every opponent fought very hard. In order to achieve a good result against Galatasaray, we have to keep our rhythm and focus on the tiny details. We need to play strong from point 1 to 25 in every single set.”
Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO (ITA) vs. Dinamo KAZAN (RUS)
• Imoco Volley are hosting Dinamo KAZAN at Palaverde after the Russian side swept six matches in a row in Pool C. Imoco Volley, on the other hand, finished second in Pool B after losing their last group match to Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA. Since they started their campaign from the 2nd Round, the Italian ‘Panthers’ have won nine out of ten Champions League matches they have contested this season this far.
• Imoco Volley have lost Megan Easy and setter Athina Papafotiou due to injury this season – and recently Robin de Kruijf as well, who has already undergone knee surgery in the Netherlands and had missed last year’s Final Four due to injury as well.
• Last year Imoco Volley hosted the Final Four at Palaverde – and will be trying to secure their second straight Final Four appearance in as many seasons after taking silver in 2017.
• Imoco Volley had a rough end of the regular season in their national league, slipping from first to third place of the standings. However, they regrouped to beat Liu Jo Nordmeccanica MODENA 3-0 in the first round of the quarterfinals at Palaverde with a great performance by their setter Joanna Wolosz.
Samantha Bricio, player of Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO: “I do not know much about the Russian team, we will study it on videotape, but I know it is a very strong team with experienced and talented players. It is a team with a lot of power in attack and the typical strength of the Russian teams. However, we can play on an equal footing with any opponent and we will give our best as usual to make a great game in front of our fans.”
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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