Luxembourg, February 19, 2020. A day after Olympiacos Piraeus won their first-leg quarterfinal in the women’s CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup 2020, another Greek team, AO Thiras Santorini, did the same at home, upsetting the strong German squad of Dresdner SC. Also on Wednesday, France’s Beziers VB shut out the other German team in the competition, Ladies in Black Aachen.
Just days after winning the German Cup in an intensive five-set final, Dresdner SC proved competitive in the first set of their visit at AO Thiras Santorini, but then the home side managed to turn things around to a 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-17) victory. The opening set was quite competitive until Dresdner went on a five-point run to break away with an irreversible 24-17 lead. In the middle of the second set, the Germans had a six-point lead, eventually reaching set point at 24-20, but the Greeks mounted an incredible six-point comeback to level the match. Halfway through the third set, Thiras took control of the scoreboard and never looked back – 25-15, 25-17 and a 3-1 match win. Yaremis Mendaro Leyva contributed 22 points, including three aces and two blocks, to the victory, topping the match chart.
Beziers proved superior to Ladies in Black upon their visit to Aachen and took away a convincing 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-18) win, a solid advantage before the return game in France on March 4. Only in the first half of the first set, the German squad managed to maintain the lead, but after 13-13, the French permanently took control of the scoreboard and held on to it through the end of the match. Beziers’ Janisa Johnson (16 points) and Dayana Segovia (15 points, including four aces) led the scorers of the match.
Saskia van Hintum, head coach of the Ladies in Black: “It is up to us to improve service and reception and to display more consistency with our blocking game. Beziers put much pressure on us and we will have to work on our reception. If we make some small changes, we can have a chance in the away match.”
Tessa Polder, middle blocker of Aachen: “Beziers were able to use their service to put pressure on us so we were not able to follow our match plan. We will work on that and I do believe we are able to force Beziers into a golden set in the away match.”
Mareike Hindriksen, captain of Ladies in Black: “Yes, it was a difficult game for us today. Our visitors were clearly better, physically strong and put some huge service pressure. However, it is not over yet. We will do everything in our power to reach a golden set and then, everything will be possible.”
For more info, go to the CEV Challenge Cup 2020 section.