06/02/2020 20:15
Dinamo crush Uralochka for shot at quarterfinals, Conegliano and Eczacibasi stay unbeaten
CEV Champions League Volley 2020 - Women
Luxembourg, February 6, 2020. Dinamo Moscow thundered through Ekaterinburg sweeping Uralochka in the all-Russia clash that was Match of the Week, while Eczabasi Vitra edged Fenerbahce Opet in five in the Istanbul derby and A. Carraro Imoco Volley Conegliano shut out Vasas Obuda in Budapest as Leg 5 of the 2020 Women's European Champions League wrapped up on Thursday.
Eczacibasi and Conegliano are now the only two undefeated teams after five legs of pool, following Savino Del Bene Scandicci's first loss of the season on Wednesday to VakifBank Istanbul. Both Eczacibasi and Conegliano have extended their records to unreachable 5-0, mathematically securing top position in their respective pools with one match to spare.
Dinamo's 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-23) win allows the eleven-time European Champions to catch up with RC Cannes at the top of the Pool E table, following the French side's defeat on Wednesday at Plovdiv to Maritza. It's now all down to the last match in the pool, with Dinamo hosting Cannes in Moscow on 18 February to decide first place amongst themselves - the winner securing a direct spot in the quarterfinals.
Dinamo broke away early in both the first and second sets and kept Uralochka at bay till the end of each. But in the third, the home team gained a quick early lead, though the visitors gradually closed in and caught up at 13-13. It was still tight until the end, but Dinamo reached match point with three to spare, before Uralochka pulled one back and Ksenia Smirnova then served long for a rather unceremonious match point.
Nataliya Goncharova with 19 points was by far the best scorer of the game, but Irina Fetisova created havoc whenever she stepped up to serve, delivering four aces in addition to two blocks for 11 points in total. Yana Shcherban also scored in double digits for Dinamo with 10, but also chipped in with her solid receiving.
Later in the evening, Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul outlasted crosstown rivals Fenerbahce Opet 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 20-25, 15-10) to remain undefeated in Pool A.
The third set could have gone either way, but after having one set point cancelled, Eczacibasi claimed it when Jordan Thompson served long.
Eczacibasi set a frenetic pace at the start of the tie-break, forcing Fenerbahce's Serbian coach Zoran Terzic to exhaust his timeouts by 4-1. Eczacibasi were still three points ahead at side switch and built on that to reach match point at 14-9 before Serbia's Tijana Boskovic finished it all with a crosscourt hit from the right, off the Fenerbahce block.
Boskovic, who was named the match MVP, broke the 30-point barrier with 35 in total, including 7/8 in the tie-break and 33/62 for a 58% attacking efficiency overall in the game.
Conegliano dealt promptly and efficiently with Vasas in Budapest in just very little over an hour for a 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-13) win that keeps the reigning world champions in pole position of Pool D.
Even without several of their key star players, Conegliano faced few problems, as Raphaela Folie rose to the occasion and delivered 6 stuffs and an incredible 93% attacking efficiency (13/14) for a total match high 19 points.
Pool play in the 2020 Women's European Champions League concludes on 18 February with the 6th and last leg.
Match by match:
Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG (RUS) vs Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 0-3 (20-25, 16-25, 23-25)
"Two days ago, we played a difficult home match in the Russian Superleague and did not have time to fully recover our strength. Of course, we wanted to fight in the Champions League, but today we made too many mistakes and failed to set any difficult tasks for the opposing team. We put up a fight, but it wasn't enough. Dinamo played a very good match. They were charged with the result. Of course, we want them to go as far as possible in this Champions League. They are a strong team and I hope they can promote the prestige of Russian volleyball."
Mikhail Karpol, Uralochka-NTMK Ekaterinburg assistant coach
"The result should not be misleading. It is always difficult to play in Ekaterinburg. Our team has recently changed their head coach, we are still getting used to his needs and are working on new tactical elements. In this game, our blockers worked very well, we did a good job with the serve. What will happen next — we will not guess. We will continue to focus on each new game."
Helena Havelkova, Dinamo Moscow outside hitter
"I think that today our victory was predetermined by two factors — we received the serve very well and raised a lot of points in defense. I am happy that the team coped with the small difficulties that arose at the beginning of the third set and returned to the struggle. This was an important moment for us."
Zeljko Bulatovic, Dinamo Moscow head coach
Fenerbahce Opet ISTANBUL (TUR) vs Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL (TUR) 2-3 (22-25, 25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 10-15)
"It was a tough match. I'm very happy that we won in the end. It was a great fight, Fenerbahce played very well. Both teams are missing some great players, but it was a real derby today. Of course it isn't easy to win three times against the same team, but we did it, so I'm happy. I think there are some small things we can do even better, in the next period we will try to do it."
Tijana Boskovic, Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul opposite
"It was good game. I'm satisfied. Our players gave 100% on the field. We are not happy of course but we gave our maximum. We played without our two important players, [Melissa] Vargas and Brankica [Mihajlovic]."
Zoran Terzic, Fenerbahce Opet Istanbul head coach
"It was a very important match for the standing in our group. I think we had a good game for the fans today. We performed well. Eczacibasi are a good team, but we are too. I'm sorry to have lost, but we still have a way to make it to the quarterfinals."
Bahar Toksoy Guidetti, Fenerbahce Opet Istanbul middle blocker
"We need to improve some things and we know that. We will focus on the next match."
Jordan Thompson, Fenerbahce Opet Istanbul opposite
Vasas Óbuda BUDAPEST (HUN) vs A. Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO (ITA) 0-3 (12-25, 19-25, 13-25)
"I'm satisfied with my team, as they fought for every ball against a really strong opponent who also played with really few mistakes today. Congratulations to Conegliano. They played a great match. Our focus now is on the next game in the Hungarian league, and the final of the Hungarian Cup, which we'll play next Thursday."
Jakub Gluszak, Vasas Obuda Budapest head coach
"I'm really happy and satisfied, as it is not easy to play after having just one practice since the final of the Italian Cup. I'm particularly happy that all of my players responded in a positive way, even those who got less chance to play in the past months. We're through to the next round which was obviously our goal from the beginning."
Daniele Santarelli, A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano head coach
Click here for further information on CEV Champions League Volley 2020.
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