17/04/2015 20:12
DRESDNER SC proud of their home-grown star, three-time CL gold medallist Christiane Fürst
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Dresden, Germany, April 17, 2015. A couple of weeks ago the fans of DRESDNER SC did not focus their attention exclusively on the Playoffs of the Bundesliga, but also on the ‘grand finale’ of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women. Their former player Christiane Fürst – a native of Dresden – could indeed celebrate her third crown in Europe’s premier competition with Turkey’s Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL after topping the charts with Volley BERGAMO and VakifBank in 2010 and 2013, respectively. The ‘Fürstl’ – as she is nicknamed – achieved a historic feat with only Antonella Del Core of Italy having done something better than that, as she has claimed Europe’s most coveted title four times and with three different teams.
The victory in Szczecin was by far the most emotional one for Christiane. In 2014 she had to be content with silver after losing the final match to Dinamo KAZAN by the time she was still wearing the shirt of VakifBank. Even though she had helped that team make the Final Four in Baku, her contract was eventually not extended and she moved to another team from Turkey’s megalopolis, Eczacibasi VitrA. In the semis played at Azoty Arena in Szczecin she edged past her former team cruising to a 3:1 victory (25-22, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22) and she eventually sealed that win by cashing a match ball against the side coached by Giovanni Guidetti, her former mentor in Germany’s national team who has since moved to be at the helm of the Netherlands.
Another former player of DRESDNER SC, Dutch middle blocker Robin de Kruijf, did also perform well in Szczecin. After spending one year in Italy with Nordmeccanica PIACENZA, she moved to Istanbul to play for VakifBank. And after losing the Turkish derby in the semis, she redeemed herself and settled for the bronze after a 3:0 win over hosts Chemik POLICE of Poland.
The final was quite one-sided as Eczacibasi VitrA cruised to a 3:0 win (25-22, 25-20, 25-21) over Italy’s Unendo Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO. Christiane Fürst had one extra reason to celebrate as she also received the Fair Play Award in the medal ceremony that followed the final. One more former player of DRESDNER SC stood on the podium as well, as Nancy Perry got silver with Unendo Yamamay.
Christiane Fürst, who is now 30, is certainly Germany’s most decorated Volleyball player of the last decade. Her success story started back in 2007 with DRESDNER SC as she won the Bundesliga with the team from her hometown. She then moved to Italy, playing first for Scavolini PESARO and then for Volley BERGAMO. Her resume now includes two titles from the Italian national league, three from the highly competitive Turkish national championship, two gold medals from Turkey’s national cup and – last but not least – three crowns from Europe’s elite competition, the CEV Volleyball Champions League. After contesting as many as 342 matches with Germany’s national team, in January she announced she would no longer play for her country on the international stage. She is due to stay with Eczacibasi also for the 2015/2016 season.
DRESDNER SC is evidently proud that one of Germany’s most successful players of all times attended their academy and then moved on to such terrific winning path. The team from Saxony had an excellent season as well making the Playoffs 12 of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League after scoring a historic home win over Dinamo MOSCOW in the League Round. DRESDNER SC are also still in the race for this year’s Bundesliga and are set to play MTV Allianz STUTTGART in the finals after securing the right to represent Germany in the 2016 edition of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League.
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