Luxembourg, March 23, 2021.  Thanks to yet another almost perfect performance Saugella MONZA have won the 2021 CEV Volleyball Cup. Their blocking skills were extraordinary, scoring as many as 33 blocks over the two matches of the final. Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL fought as hard as they could, but they were no match to MONZA’s desire to win the CEV Cup.

Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Saugella MONZA (ITA) 0-3 (17-25, 19-25, 19-25)

As it was in the first match of the final Monza’s blocking was off the charts. Last week they scored 17 in total, on Tuesday in Istanbul they picked up right where they left off getting 7 blocks in the first set alone. The dominant performance was not just from blocking, setter Alessia Orro had no trouble finding the best attacker for almost any situation. In the first set alone Floortje Meijners had scored six points and Lise Van Hecke had five to her name. The set was won 25-17.

MONZA started the second with the same taste for victory and quickly ran away to a 9-3 score line.  Where the Italian team could fire from all cylinders, Galatasaray had to rely on Tatiana Kosheleva’s ingenuity to keep them in play. It just wasn’t enough. Although focus was dropping a bit, MONZA kept at it and won the second set 25-19, which also handed them the title.

After the first celebrations were over the third set was played in which many substitutions of MONZA came onto the field and finished the job: 25-19.

·      Alessia Orro was chosen as the MVP, scoring three times from second balls and one block. She really led her team to victory

·      Tatiana Kosheleva was the top scorer, she produced 14 points for Galatasaray

·      In this second match of the final MONZA scored 16 blocking points, just one shy of last week’s top performance

·      It’s the second title in a European competition within three seasons for MONZA after having won the CEV Challenge Cup in 2019