24/02/2016 23:45
Nordmeccanica PIACENZA claim historic qualification for Playoffs 6
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Piacenza, Italy, February 24, 2016. Italy’s Nordmeccanica PIACENZA stormed back from their 3-2 away loss two weeks ago to claim the re-match with Poland’s vice champions PGE Atom Trefl SOPOT (3-1; 25-23, 16-25, 25-21, 25-20) and secure a historic qualification for the Playoffs 6 of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women. The match was close from start to end with Nordmeccanica eventually prevailing as the hosts impressed with their strength, both technically / tactically speaking as well as from a psychological standpoint.
PIACENZA started the match leading 4-1 in the first set but SOPOT got back on track edging ahead 16-15 at the second technical time-out after four points in a row, including a block by their Serbian setter Danica Radenkovic on Francesca Marcon. However, PIACENZA remained calm and focussed, flipping the charts around at 20-19 with a point claimed by Indre Sorokaite and making it 24-21 with two more scored by their captain Christina Bauer. SOPOT survived two set balls for the hosts but PIACENZA used their third opportunity to seal the final 25-23.
The Atomic Girls set the pace of the game from the early stages of the second set; PIACENZA trailed by three points at the first technical time-out and then by five at 18-13 after a point claimed by the Dutch outside spiker of SOPOT, Maret Balkestein-Grothues. The captain of the Dutch national team continued to spike time and again and Nordmeccanica did not keep the pace of the visitors, this resulting in a clear 25-16 set win for SOPOT. Katarzyna Zaroslinska and Floortje Meijners stood out in this set recording seven points apiece for SOPOT and PIACENZA, respectively.
The tension and emotions reached their climax already in the third set with PIACENZA off to a solid start for a 12-8 advantage contributed by Marcon, Sorokaite, Bauer and Meijners. The hosts comfortably set the tempo of the match also after the second technical time-out (17-11) and Bauer kept this six-point lead at 22-16. However, SOPOT did not give in and their comeback resulted in PIACENZA’s lead being reduced down to only two points at 23-21. However, that’s all the Atomic Girls could do as PIACENZA showed nerves of steel to close the set 25-21 with another two straight points.
SOPOT had to win set four to stay alive in the game and remain in contention for a spot in the next round of the competition and opened proceedings with a stunning 6-2 run before PIACENZA clawed back to restore the balance at 7-all. The Poles went ahead again at 15-14 with Zaroslinska but after that PIACENZA dominated the scene anchored by their Dutch outside spiker Floortje Meijners who eventually top scored in the match with 24 points.
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