23/10/2013 23:30
CONEGLIANO upsets Galatasaray Daikin in most anticipated game of first round
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Treviso, Italy, October 23, 2013. Italy’s rookie Prosecco Doc-Imoco CONEGLIANO won their home debut in Europe’s elite club competition, the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League, edging Turkey’s heavyweight Galatasaray Daikin ISTANBUL at the end of a real marathon where the hosts initially dissipated a 2:0 lead before they had the upper hand at the tie-break (25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 21-25, and 18-16).
The match was played at the Palaverde, a familiar venue in Europe for it used to play host to the home matches of former Italian standout Sisley TREVISO. The hosts started out strong and with their team captain Valentina Fiorin impressing with her consistency and charisma they won a close first set (25-23). With more than 3,000 fans in attendance for the debut of the so-called “Panthers”, CONEGLIANO imposed their pace also in the second set with Marta Bechis and Cristina Barcellini replacing Carli Lloyd and Valentina Tirozzi in the starting six. After trailing 11:16 halfway through the set, with the addition of these players CONEGLIANO fired back to claim the second set with another 25-23 and a block by their veteran player Jenny Barazza.
The third set fully belonged to the guests from Turkey with Madelaynne Montano and Stefana Veljkovic paving the way for the final 25-19 for Galatasaray. The Turks caught a flying start also in the fourth set (7:1) and even though CONEGLIANO was able to claw back, still it could not compensate for that slow start and Galatasaray called for the tie-break (25-21).
The fifth set was a dramatic battle where Galatasaray initially went up 9:5 with excellent serving by their Colombian superstar, Madelaynne Montano. However, CONEGLIANO fought back to draw level at 12 all and then survived to three match balls for their opponents before Barazza got the party started with a block that sealed the final 18-16 and 3-2 victory.
“CONEGLIANO played much better than we did and we started playing the right way too late. We are still not ready for that kind of matches and you simply can’t accept a defeat which comes after you have been leading 12:8 in the tie-break. However, my congratulations go out to our opponents” said Galatasaray Daikin head coach Massimo Barbolini.
“This is a great victory especially as we showed that we did not want to give up after Galatasaray had started playing really strong” commented home mentor Marco Gaspari. “We showed a great attitude and character as we fought back from 8:12 in the tie-break. This is a great result”.
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