11/12/2013 22:32
Italian rookies CONEGLIANO claim ticket to Playoffs 12
2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Treviso, Italy, December 11, 2013. Italy’s Prosecco Doc-Imoco CONEGLIANO claimed on Wednesday the much anticipated derby with their compatriots of Unendo Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO scoring a straight home victory (25-20, 25-15, and 26-24) to improve their win-loss record to 4-1 in preliminary Pool E and to make the Playoffs 12 in what is their first CL appearance. On the other hand, last year’s bronze medalists Unendo Yamamay suffered their fifth consecutive setback and are now out of contention for a spot in the next phase as well as in the Challenge Round of the 2014 CEV Volleyball Cup.
It was a very special game for the setter of CONEGLIANO, US American Carli Lloyd, who up to the last season had worn the jersey of BUSTO ARSIZIO. The home heroines – known as the “Panthers” in Italy – started out strong claiming the first set with the score of 25-20. They also set the pace of the game in the second set (5:1, 8:3) making it 25-15 in the end with a great performance by their spiker Valentina Fiorin. The third set was much closer with CONEGLIANO trying many times to break away in the score but playing with courage and great determination Unendo Yamamay fought their way back and leveled the count at 24 all. Still Fiorin could kill another two spikes to seal the final 26-24 and celebrate their qualification to the Playoffs 12 even with one round still to go for completion of the prelims.
“We are very happy with this victory, the fourth for us since the start of the season, but especially we are happy that we have made the Playoffs 12. This is a historic result for real beginners as this is our very first season in the European Cups” commented CONEGLIANO head coach Marco Gaspari. “However, this is only the beginning of our adventure and for sure we do not want to stop here.”
“We played an awful game but CONEGLIANO right now is a very strong team and they have showed their skills and strength tonight” commented Unendo Yamamay team captain Francesca Marcon. “We could have performed better, not just tonight but also in all of our previous matches.”
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