Luxembourg, March 20, 2019. After the disappointment of losing their first Champions League match since 2016,
VakifBank ISTANBUL delivered a dominant performance in the return leg
against Dinamo MOSCOW taking a straight sets win and with it a place in
the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League semi-finals. Along with
Fenerbahce Opet ISTANBUL and Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO who qualified yesterday,
that is now three teams who are confirmed for the next round. The
final place will go to Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA or Allianz MTV STUTTGART
who face off tomorrow. All eyes are already on the Super Finals, make
sure you have got your tickets for the conclusion of Europe's premier
club competition: clvolley.cev.eu/
VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR) vs Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-8)
• VakıfBank ISTANBUL are in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the seventh time in a row after a 3-0 win in just over 1 hour.
• Last week Dinamo MOSCOW took a tight tie-break (15-13) meaning the Turkish side had to equal or better that result to give themselves a chance of progressing. That defeat was only the second time that VakifBank had lost against Russian opposition in 15 attempts.
• 1,453 home fans added to a pulsating atmosphere which saw an entirely dominant display by the reigning champions, ending with more than a sets worth of difference in points between the two sides.
• VakıfBank have now won 40 of their last 38 matches in the competition, and a record 122 in the competition's history. They have won the Champions League title four times in the last 10 years - a joint record which they hold with Volley BERGAMO.
• With this defeat, Dinamo MOSCOW end a six-match winning streak and exit the competition.
• The MVP of the match was Zhu Ting who lead from start to finish, scoring 17 points, especially at crucial times.
• Top scorer of the game was Lonneke Slöetjes who took 19 (16 spikes, 2 blocks and 1 ace).
VakifBank ISTANBUL head coach Giovanni Guidetti: ''Even a single second of today's match wasn't easy. After the match in Moscow, we had a hard time as a team. We did a lot of training. We spent a lot of time by watching the videos. We were concentrating on the match and thinking it would never be the end. We knew it would be hard today but it is always easy for us to come back under pressure. Because VakıfBank always has this spirit. Today we played like VakıfBank. My players refused to lose. The more under pressure my players are, the better they are playing. I want to thank my team because they achieved a great result.''
VakifBank ISTANBUL opposite Lonneke Slöetjes: ''I am really excited. I am so proud of the team because we were really down. And now we have this comeback... It's such a nice feeling to win. Under so much pressure you can still deliver. So it's a great achievement for the team. I am so proud and I am really really happy.''
VakifBank ISTANBUL outside hitter Kelsey Robinson: ''I'm so happy, I think we put so much energy and focused into this game tonight. I think it shows, we came out ready to go and I am just really proud of every single part of my team.''
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