Luxembourg, November 13, 2018. Germany’s Allianz MTV STUTTGART made it to the pool stage of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women, winning four sets in a row in the return leg at home against last season’s silver medallists of CSM Volei Alba BLAJ. The German side had lost the first match in Romania by 1-3, but managed to recover with an emphatic straight-setter at home, followed by an emphatic Golden Set win, to triumph victorious on Tuesday evening. It was just as thrilling over in France, where Poland’s Budowlani ŁÓDŹ had to come back from a set down twice before overcoming the tough resistance of ASPTT MULHOUSE VB and booking their ticket to the next round. Alba and ASPTT MULHOUSE step down to the next tier in the European Cups to continue playing in the 2019 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women.
Allianz MTV STUTTGART (GER) vs. CSM Volei Alba BLAJ (ROU) 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-11); Golden Set 15-7
• Among the 1,450 spectators on the stands, there was a block of about 50 fans travelling from Romania and constantly singing throughout the match to help create a very nice and friendly atmosphere at the SCHARRena.
• With Paige Tapp serving, Allianz achieved a seven-point run to take a comfortable lead on the way to a 25-19 win of the first set.
• Alba started the second set with a 4-1 lead, but Allianz fought back to tie it at 9-9. After 12-12 the home side regained control and held on it through the end. Krystal Rivers finished the set at 25-17 with an ace.
• Alba had serious problems with their reception in the third set, while Allianz had a strong performance in blocking and defence. With a series of good serves from Jana-Franziska Poll, the German squad marched to an 8-0 opening before cruising on to a 25-11 close of the third set and forcing their Romanian opponents to a Golden Set.
• Everybody was nervous before the Golden Set thriller, but while the home team managed to keep their cool and continued fighting, the visiting side resorted to a lot of complaining about the referees’ decisions with coach Darko Zakoc ending up with yellow and red cards. Allianz MTV’s players already knew it was their evening and with an incredible team effort mastered a 15-7 win.
• Paige Tapp was the best scorer of the night with a total of 18 points (including nine kill blocks) over the four sets. Krystal Rivers added 14 to Allianz MTV STUTTGART’s tally. CSM Volei Alba BLAJ’s Katerina Zhidkova also scored 14 times to top the charts on her team’s side of the net.
• The team from Stuttgart will play in Pool A alongside Turkey’s VakifBank ISTANBUL, France's BEZIERS VB and Bulgaria's Maritza PLOVDIV.
• In the eighthfinals of the CEV Cup, Alba will face the winner of the two-game series between Bulgaria’s Levski SOFIA and Czech Republic’s VK PROSTEJOV.
Ioannis Athanasopoulos, coach of Allianz MTV STUTTGART: "I would like to congratulate all my 13 players, my staff, the management, the sponsors, the fans... This is a victory we all achieved together. We delivered the perfect game. Everybody was enjoying watching Volleyball tonight. And I am speechless, I have nothing to say. I must enjoy the moment."
Paige Tapp, player of Allianz MTV STUTTGART: "Finally the team chemistry is kicking in. We had so much fun on the court and we let them make the mistakes. Our journey in Europe continues."
Darko Zakoc, coach of CSM Volei Alba BLAJ: "Congratulations to Allianz MTV STUTTGART! For me, this is a disaster. I do not have anything else to say."
Lora Kitipova, player of CSM Volei Alba BLAJ: "We played very poorly. That’s why we lost. It is totally our fault. Even with the bad referee decisions in the Golden Set, it is our fault, because we made it possible, that the team from Stuttgart were even able to reach the Golden Set."
ASPTT MULHOUSE (FRA) vs. Budowlani ŁÓDŹ (POL) 2-3 (25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 18-25, 11-15)
• With the lead going back and forth throughout the first set, the pressure was mounting at the Palais des Sports. ASPTT’s coach Magali Magail took her second time-out at 23-23 before blocking action from Bojana Markovic and Alexandra Frantti put the crowd to their feet at 25-23 in favour of the home team.
• The squad from Mulhouse could not hold on to the early 8-4 lead they had in the second set. Budowlani’s spikers Jaroslava Pencova and Jovana Brakocevic Canzian showed their best attacking skills to help their team to the lead and the latter closed the set at 25-23 with an unstoppable hit.
• With their backs against the wall, the French team could not afford any more conceits. With noisy support from the crowd, ASPTT MULHOUSE VB gained control after 7-7 to cruise on to a convincing 25-16 win of the third set, with Bojana Markovic scoring the last two points with a perfect spike and a solid block.
• The gap stayed narrow for a while in the fourth set. The first three-point advantage was at 15-12 Budowlani’s way. With some strong serving from Brakocevic and a winning spike from Agata Babicz, the Polish side won the set by 25-18 and booked their ticket to the fourth round, following their four-set victory at home last week.
• With the psychological advantage now clearly on their side, the team from Poland dominated the fifth set on the way to a 15-11 win, shaped up with Koleta Łyszkiewicz’s block for the last point.
• Budowlani ŁÓDŹ will compete against Italy’s Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA, France's RC CANNES and Belarus's Minchanka MINSK in Pool C of the Champions League.
• ASPTT MULHOUSE VB will move on straight to the eighthfinals of the second-tier CEV Volleyball Cup, where they will play against the winner of the clash between Switzerland’s TS Volley DÜDINGEN and Hungary’s Fatum NYÍREGYHÁZA.
Jovana Brakocevic Canzian, player of Budowlani LODZ: “It feels great since it was our major goal to qualify to the pool stage of the Champions League. It was not easy at all because we played a very tough team and they fought until the very end. They did so both in the first and second match. We had some problems with our young players, who are suffering from injuries; we had our ups and downs but we fought hard and we showed ourselves that we can make it.”
Blazej Krzysztalowicz, head coach of Budowlani LODZ: “We obviously did not feel comfortable after suffering such a heavy loss in the third set but we changed some small things and adjusted our tactics a bit and it worked in the end. I am happy that in the fourth set, the quality of our game was higher than before and it was enough for us to beat ASPTT MULHOUSE who really put up a fight tonight.”
Carli Snyder, player of ASPTT MULHOUSE VB: “We had a very hard match today and we played against a super talented team. It was a hard fight until the end. They played extremely well and we missed a few little things in the end. However, our team is growing and we are improving every day. We are really excited to get back to the French league.”
Magali Magail, head coach of ASPTT MULHOUSE VB: “We expected a tough game and I am a bit disappointed that especially in the fourth set we gave up a little bit too early but that is Volleyball. That is the best we could achieve today and now we want to perform well in the CEV Cup.”
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