Ekaterinburg, Russia, March 26, 2014. Turkish Fenerbahce SK. ISTANBUL disappointed a crowd of 3,150 spectators at the competition hall in Ekaterinburg by squeezing out a dramatic victory over the local heroines of Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG by 3:2 (25-16, 25-17, 20-25, 23-25, 15-9) in the first final match of the 2014 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women. This gives the Yellow Angels a slight advantage before the decisive return leg by the Bosporus on Saturday at 20:00 local time.
The first set was a straightforward affair with the Turkish block dominating at the net and contributing 5 points to the impressive final score of 25-16. The second set started somewhat better for Uralochka as the home team maintained a slight lead before the technical time-out. But then Fenerbahce’s offensive efforts helped the team re-establish its control of the scoreboard to break away for another landslide result – 25-17.
Despite trailing by two sets now, Nikolai Karpol’s players did not give up. They took an early 7-2 lead in the third set and never let go. Uralochka’s spiking efficiency went up and, cheered by the fans on the stands, the home heroines finished it off at 25-20 with four consecutive points at the end. Fenerbahce responded with a 4-0 start of the fourth set, but shortly after the first technical time-out the fortunes were turned again. With 8 kill blocks in this set, Uralochka managed to level the score at 2:2, despite a late scare caused by Fenerbahce saving three of the four consecutive set points before surrendering at 23-25.
However, Marcello Abbondanza’s squad already had the momentum and used it to take control of the tie-breaker. His players showed more character in this decisive set to get away with a 15-9 win and rejoice with the victory.
Korean Kim Yeon-Koung became the best scorer of the match, contributing 27 points to Fenerbahce’s victory. Christina Bauer and Aneta Havlickova added 19 and 18 points, respectively, with Kim and Bauer tallying up 6 kill blocks each. Yumilka Ruiz Luaces was Uralochka’s most prolific player with 17 points.
“I would like to congratulate the team on the victory,” Fenerbahce coach Abbondanza said after the match. “We were ready for a tough game and our expectations were met: the self-confidence after winning the first two sets played us a bad joke. But the girls were able to come together and win.”
“I am quite satisfied with the team's performance tonight,” Uralochka counterpart Karpol commented. “In the first two sets, apparently, our team was nervous, maybe even scared of such serious opponents, but in the following two sets we were able to put our act together and gave a good fight.”
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