Szczecin, Poland, April 4, 2015.  The Italian Butterflies of Unendo Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO will flutter their wings in Sunday’s grand finale of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women.  In Saturday’s first semifinal in Szczecin they spoiled the mood of the local fans who created an amazing atmosphere on the stands of the sold-out Azoty Arena, by downing host Chemik POLICE by 3:0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-21).

Storming into the game with a speedy 4-0 in the first set, Chemik could not hold on to its advantage and after 13-13 allowed the opponent ahead.  With some incredible spiking from Helena Havelkova, Unendo Yamamay kept the pressure up to close the first set at 25-21.  Chemik could not hold on to an 11-6 lead in the second set, although Stefana Veljkovic continued her shining spiking and blocking performance from the first set.  It was Valentina Diouf now on fire bringing her team back into this set.  The Butterflies ended up saving two opponent set points after 22-24 and before Ekaterina Lyubushkina put the ball on the floor for the final 27-25 to double Unendo Yamamay’s lead.  This development brought the home heroines down in spirit and they struggled to stay competitive in the third set.  The Italian squad was receiving and attacking more efficiently with Diouf and Havelkova continuing to score point after point, while the home team committed more mistakes and one of those ended the set at 21-25 and shattered Chemik’s dreams of a home-ground final.

Valentina Diouf with 19 points and Helena Havelkova with 17 topped the scorers’ chart of the match, while Malgorzata Glinka-Mogentale was Chemik POLICE’s best scorer with 15 points.

Carlo Parisi, head coach of Unendo Yamamay:  “I am happy with the way my team performed today.  We worked hard on our serving and it showed in the game.  On the other hand, Chemik’s errors in the first set did help us in the beginning of the match.  I am also really pleased with how my team reacted to the score and the tough situation in the end of set two.”

Giuseppe Cuccarini, head coach of Chemik:  “I do not think that this was a bad game, but our serving was not as good as it can be.  The first set could have made a difference in the overall result, if we had made fewer mistakes. The second set could have gone either way, but Unendo Yamamay was calmer and more focused, winning in those crucial moments.”

Giulia Pisani, player of Unendo Yamamay: “It was my second match in the Final Four, but first in the main line-up.  Nobody believed in us, but you can see the result.  I am very happy for my team and it is really hard to calm down my emotions.”

Aleksandra Jagielo, player of Chemik:  “Our fans are very supportive, they never let us down.  I did not really think that there will be so many fans from Italy, but it was worth for them to come all the way to Szczecin.  Tomorrow we must play better, with harder serving.”