03/12/2013 22:55
After fourth straight defeat Unendo Yamamay is out of Playoffs race
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Busto Arsizio, Italy, December 3, 2013. Last year’s bronze medalists Unendo Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO are virtually out of contention for a spot in the Playoffs 12 of the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women. Unendo Yamamay lost on Tuesday in straight sets to Turkey’s standout Galatasaray Daikin ISTANBUL that was paced by their stellar opposite player Madelaynne Montano (21 points all alone in three sets). The guests from Turkey replicated last week’s performance at home and downed their opponents 3:0 (25-22, 25-20, and 25-23) to claim the leadership in Pool E with 10 points.
The home heroines were paced by Anne Buijs with 20 points and they played as recommended by their mentor Carlo Parisi, serving strong to keep Galatasaray setter Eleonora Lo Bianco away from the net. Still the guests could show a great performance in all fundamentals and they compensated for the absence of Dobriana Rabadzhieva with good play by Neriman Özsoy and Stefana Veljkovic who finished the game with 15 and 11 points respectively. Anne Buijs was the most prolific player for the home side while Valentina Arrighetti also played a good game recording 6 blocks in the end but still not enough to please more than 3,000 fans in attendance at the Palayamamay.
Unendo Yamamay started out very aggressive leading the way (13:9) with two blocks by Arrighetti and several points by Buijs and their captain Francesca Marcon. However, Montano and Veljkovic responded for Galatasaray making it 15 all and another two blocks by Montano sealed the final 25-22 for the guests. As the score had stood at 18:17, Galatasaray Daikin head coach Massimo Barbolini had replaced Ergül Avci with Asli Kalac after Avci had suffered a nose injury.
In the second set Unendo Yamamay mentor Carlo Parisi replaced Serena Ortolani with youngster Marika Bianchini but the home side trailed right from the start (8:13). Montano widened the lead for Galatasaray (10:16) and even though Unendo Yamamay attempted a comeback, with a block by Arrighetti making it 16:19, Veljkovic and a few mistakes later in the set by the hosts paved the way with gold for Galatasaray (20-25).
Ortolani was back in action for the start of the third set but again Galatasaray quickly set the pace of the game (6:8); Marcon drew level at 8 all but Japanese star Saori Kimura made it 8:12 for the guests. Arrighetti and Buijs tried their best to keep Unendo Yamamay on track but Veljkovic helped the visiting team get back control of the game (19:21) with Lo Bianco cashing the last point (23-25).
“Our qualification for the Playoffs is almost impossible as we had already compromised our chances with the previous matches, not only with the performance from tonight” said Unendo Yamamay head coach Carlo Parisi. “We are missing composure and self-confidence; what I really liked is the comeback we performed after the second set and even though we lost, the team fought bravely until the end. We have to re-start from this.”
“Our serve was not so bad tonight but the reception was shaky and our counterattacks not good enough” commented team captain Francesca Marcon. “Montano was just great and she solved many difficult situations for her team. We still lack motivation to fight and stick together.”
“Playing Italian teams is never easy and it was not easy to win tonight as well” commented top scorer Madelaynne Montano. “We still haven’t secured our qualification to the next round so we have to keep concentrated and play our best also in the next matches”.
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