13/02/2019 22:00
Rookies AYDIN BBSK, Saugella MONZA through to #CEVChallengeCupW semis
2019 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Women
Luxembourg, February 13, 2019. Rookies AYDIN BBSK and Saugella MONZA qualified for the semis of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Women after claiming a second victory in their quarterfinal fixtures with AO THIRAS and Calcit Volley KAMNIK, respectively. It is a truly remarkable result for these two teams, who are making this season their maiden appearance in the European Cups.
AYDIN BBSK (TUR) vs. AO THIRAS (GRE) 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-19)
• AYDIN BBSK added another chapter to their fairy tale in the 2019 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Women as the rookies qualified for the semis of the competition after recording a resounding 3-0 home victory over AO THIRAS of Greece.
• Last Wednesday, AYDIN BBSK had claimed a sensational 3-2 away win in Karterados-Santorini.
• The best scorer of this match was the Dominican opposite of the home side, Brayelin Martinez with 26 points, as Katarina Pilepic topped the charts for the Greek team with 11 points.
Mustafa Umut Uysal, head coach of AYDIN BBSK: “The CEV Challenge Cup is a very important tournament for us. This is the first time we participate in a competition of such a level and we are in the semi-finals. Thanks to all our fans who created a fantastic atmosphere tonight.”
Seda Turkkan, captain of AYDIN BBSK: “We are happy that we won today, even if it was not our best match. We fought hard and gave our best today. We still hope to win the title because we believe in ourselves and in the semis we will play as good as we can to reach the final.”
Calcit Volley KAMNIK (SLO) vs. Saugella MONZA (ITA) 1-3 (14-25, 25-23, 23-25, 22-25)
• Saugella MONZA are in the semis of the Challenge Cup after celebrating their second victory in as many matches with Calcit Volley KAMNIK.
• The visitors stormed to a landslide victory in the first set (25-14) but the hosts responded well to claim the second with the help of Olivera Kostic and Lucille Charuk, who did a very good job especially from the service line.
• However, the quality of Saugella MONZA emerged in the third and fourth sets where their team effort produced a 3-1 victory, more than enough to secure a ticket to the semis after their 3-0 home win last week.
• Serena Ortolani top scored with 18 points including six blocks, as Francesca Devetag and Laura Melandri were also pivotal to Saugella’s victory.
• Saugella MONZA have a perfect record of six wins in as many matches in their first participation in the European Cups.
Laura Melandri, player of Saugella MONZA: “It was a tough match. We did not show our best game but we achieved the goal, and that was the qualification for the semis. They served really well and sometimes we suffered in reception, but in the end, we were able to respond and win the match. We can and we want to grow in our game: we have to avoid some blackouts we have sometimes during the matches and this should be our main focus for the rest of the season, in the Challenge Cup as well as in the national league.”
Gregor Rozman, head coach of Calcit Volley: “Today our team was THE team. For a long time we have known what we have in terms of quality and tonight once again, the girls showed they could play on a high level against a strong team, such as Saugella MONZA is. To surprise them, we would have had to be better in the key moments, maybe that ball at the end of the third set was inside the court, but it is difficult to say. No matter what, we accomplished the goal we had set prior to this match, which was keeping the game intense until the very end. After all, the experience was on the side of MONZA.”
Click here for further information.
|