Luxembourg, March 23, 2021. A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano run
their impressive winning streak all the way to the Super Final of the Champions
League. Following the three-set victory over Igor Gorgonzola Novara in the
first match of their semifinal rivalry, Conegliano delivered another
straight-set stunning performance, this time on their own court. The result extends Conegliano’s winning campaign as this Tuesday’s encounter was their
57th consecutive win.
Conegliano controlled the match
from the first minutes, pushing Novara to make a couple mistakes that allowed the
hosts to reach 6-3. The lead was soon extended to 11-5 after two great plays by
McKenzie Adams and Novara were forced to take their first time out. Conegliano
continued to shine in the attack with Kimberly Hill and Robin de Kruijf adding
points of their own. The latter increased the gap between her team and Novara
to 17-7, forcing coach Stefano Lavarini to take another time out. Joanna Wolosz
pulled a trick out of her sleeve, delivering a single-hand set for Paola Egonu,
who made it 18-8 with a spike without a block. The team maintained the point
gap until they took the set 25-15 with a spike from middle blocker Sarah Fahr.
Novara recovered immediately,
taking an early lead in the second set at 2-5. Conegliano responded right away
and levelled the score at 7-7 after Egonu blocked Caterina Bosetti. The story
repeated itself as Novara went ahead by 3 points at 10-13, but Conegliano soon
tied with Hill delivering the levelling hit. Egonu added an ace serve,
putting her team in the lead for the first time in this set and Novara
stopped the game with a time out. But Egonu remained at the service line,
taking her team into a 16-13 advantage. Faced with their last chance to turn
things into their favour, Novara found a way back in from 19-16 to 19-19, after
a run of good plays - with a double block on Egonu, followed by
ace serve from Britt Herbots and spike from Bosetti. Both teams continued point
by point, when two double blocks by Conegliano on Elisa Zanette and Bosetti
put the team at 24-21 - at the verge of winning their second set and securing
the ticket to the Super Final of the competition. Bosetti stepped in with a great
spike and an ace serve, allowing Novara to edge closer to 24-23 and forcing
Conegliano to take a time out. Egonu used the third set point for Conegliano
and ended the set with a diagonal spike, taking her team into the final phase of
the Champions League.
Keen to finish the match in
style, both teams kept their starting line ups in the third set and continued
playing point by point, until Conegliano went ahead at 10-7. Gulia Gennari and
Lucille Gicquel replaced Wolosz and Egonu on Conegliano’s side in the following
part of the set, as the home team continued to lead.
Gicquel had an immediate impact on the team, as her great performance at the
service line forced Novara to take a time out when the score reached 18-14. The
hosting team remained ahead, extending the gap to six points at 23-17 and the
first match point came at 24-19. Adams scored the final point, hitting the ball
off the block and winning the third set 25-20 as an icing on the cake of their
spot in the Champions League Super Final.
“It was a tough game, Novara is
always a good team to go up against. But we came out and took care of what we
needed to do, we came out with a win and now let's go to the finals!" said McKenzie Adams, outside spiker of of A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano.
- This was the fifth CEV Champions
League match between A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano and Igor Gorgonzola Novara.
With this win, Conegliano lead with 3 victories.
- Second set brought two breaking
moments, thanks to serving performance on both sides of the net. Conegliano
scored a six-point streak during Paola Egonu's service turn, going from 11-13 to
17-13. Novara responded soon after with a five-point break while Britt Herbots was
at the serving line
- Joanna Wolosz was named MVP of
the match after leading Conegliano to a straight-set victory, with the team
achieving 54% of exc. attack
- McKenzie Adams was the top scorer
of the match with 16 points (15 spikes and 1 block)
- Caterina Bosetti was the best
scorer for Novara with 10 points (7 spikes, 2 aces and 1 block)
- Sarah Fahr of Conegliano was the best blocker
of the match, scoring 4 points in this element
"It was a tough match, I
think everyone could see that we had some difficulties. I just think we need to
play a better volleyball, but I hope we see them again in the Italian League
play-offs,” commented Micha Hancock, setter of Igor Gorgonzola Novara.