Novara, Italy, March 4, 2015.  SCHWERINER SC routed Igor Volley NOVARA in the match played at Pala Terdoppio in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Women.  The German girls lost the first set to their Italian hosts, but cruised to a 3:1 (24-26, 25-15, 25-19, 25-22) victory.

Without Sansonna and Chirichella, tired after the Italian Cup Final Four played last weekend, Igor Volley fell back to a 7-11 deficit in the first set, but then reacted to tie at 20-20 before Katarina Barun closed it off at 26-24.  SCHWERINER SC showed great defence and serving and to lead by 8-6 and then by 16-1o at the technical time-outs of the second set.  Igor Volley could not respond and Lousi Souza Ziegler finished the set at 25-15.  Nothing changed in the third set, which SCHWERINER SC won by 25-19, while coach Luciano Pedulla was trying in vain to find a solution in some substitutions.  In the fourth set, the home team took an 8-5 lead with Barun and Martina Guiggi serving well, but Lonneke Sloetjes paved the way to a 16-13 turnaround with a good serving run.  It was Anja Brandt who closed the set and the match with a winning serve for 25-22, after a total of 105 minutes of playing. Sloetjes was the best scorer for of the match with 20 points for the visiting team.

“We are really happy about the game and the result,” said SCC’s head coach Felix Koslowski.  “We almost cannot believe that we won in Novara.  We know it is still hard, but we will try to fight until the end to get a spot in the next round.  Tonight everything was really perfect.”

“I am disappointed about my team’s performance,” said Igor Volley’s head coach Luciano Pedulla. “Because I really did not expect such a bad game even if we were tired after the Italian cup finals.  Nothing worked and I felt powerless.  Now we need to play with different spirit and determination in the return match on Tuesday night in Schwerin.”

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