Szczecin, Poland, April 4, 2015.  Eczacibasi VitrA won the big Istanbul clash with VakifBank in the second semifinal match of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women to qualify for Sunday’s final against Italy’s Unendo Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO in Szczecin.  The players in white and orange persevered through a tough resistance from the opponent, achieved a hard-fought 3:1 (25-22, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22) victory, thus taking revenge for last season’s semifinal loss in Baku.

The first set was clearly dominated by Eczacibasi VitrA.  Starting with a 4-0 appetizer, Giovanni Caprara’s players offered some good blocking as the main dish to open an 8-point gap and although VakifBank made every effort to steal their dessert coming back to 22-24, it was finally served with a sweet back-row hit by Bethania De La Cruz for 25-22.  VakifBank came back strong in the second set with a fantastic Milena Rasic show.  The Serbian middle blocker scored at all her seven attempts in offence, adding two kill blocks towards a comfortable 25-16 in the end of the set.

Both teams approached the third set with more precision in their game and this resulted in a tense plot.  Although VakifBank never took the lead, it gave the opponents some thrill by catching up with them at 13-13 and then at 22-22.  However, with a hard-working Jordan-Quinn Larson in attack and a shining Maja Poljak at the block, Eczacibasi VitrA did not allow any turnarounds and won by 25-22.  A similar plot unfolded in the fourth set.  Larson continued to lead her teammates towards the final, as they maintained control throughout the set after shooting up to 9-3 with 6 consecutive points.  Giovanni Guidetti’s girls desperately tried to catch up and got as close as 10-12 and 22-24, but not any closer.  Christiane Fuerst finished the job with a spike through the middle to launch the celebrations at the Eczacibasi VitrA camp.

Jordan-Quinn Larson-Burbach’s impressive 25 points put her on top of the scorers’ list, followed by VakifBank’s Milena Rasic with 20.

Giovanni Caprara, head coach of Eczacibasi VitrA:  “We started the match very well.  I think the defence could have been better.  The players make the match, not the coach.  It is important to win against Unendo Yamamay tomorrow.”

Giovanni Guidetti, head coach of VakifBank:  “Eczacibasi deserved to win this match. They were better in attack. That is why they won.  Tomorrow’s match will be more about what we can improve.  I am not thinking about Chemik POLICE - my players are more important to me.”

Esra Gumus Kirici, captain of Eczacibasi VitrA:  “We know that VakifBank is a very good team.  We know each other well.  Winning was the most important, now we can focus on tomorrow’s final.  We had a very strong year so far and we must play our best.”

Asuman Karakoyun, setter of Eczacibasi VitrA: “Our fans seems to be a little calm comparing to the usual league atmosphere.  I hope tomorrow we will show the best of us.  Szczecin is a really crowded and historical city and we like it.”