23/02/2016 20:45
Yellow Angels secure first spot in CL Playoffs 6 with another dominant win
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Women
Istanbul, Turkey, February 23, 2016. Turkey’s Fenerbahce Grundig ISTANBUL continued their impressive show of strength claiming their spot in the Playoffs 6 of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women by routing Poland’s champions Chemik POLICE in straight sets for the second time in two weeks (25-21, 25-16, 25-14).
Chemik POLICE started the match very determined as they had to bounce back from their heavy home loss two weeks ago. However, Fenerbahce promptly responded with their star players Brankica Mihajlovic and Kim Yeon-Koung to claim an 8-5 lead at the first technical time-out. After the break, Chemik POLICE closed the gap to make it 10-all but their coach Giuseppe Cuccarini stopped the game once more after the Yellow Angels had edged ahead at 14-11. This additional stop did not prevent Fenerbahce from securing a 16-12 lead at the second technical time-out and the hosts widened their advantage to 19-13 by exploiting a few service mistakes made by their opponents. Chemik made a last attempt to come back and this resulted in a time-out by Fenerbahce which was instrumental to their capacity to keep a small lead and eventually win the opening set 25-21.
Kim Yeon-Koung paced Fenerbahce on their way to an early 8-4 lead in the second set and Chemik POLICE again seemed to struggle to keep the pace of the Yellow Angels, trailing 11-7 midway through the set. Fenerbahce were still up by five points at the second technical time-out and by comfortably finishing the second set 25-16 they secured their progression to the next round of Europe’s elite competition.
The third set did not have any special meaning but free from any pressure Chemik POLICE started playing a lot better and did so especially with the help of their Colombian opposite Madelaynne Montano. Despite the effort of the former player of Fenerbahce, POLICE trailed 8-7 at the first technical time-out and Fenerbahce widened their lead to 13-10 after the break. Home mentor Marcello Abbondanza made some substitutions at this stage of the match with Polen Uslupehlivan and Ezgi Dilik joining the actions. Still this did not affect the quality of the performance by the home side (19-13) and the third set came to a quick end (25-14) and with it the match was over as well.
Korean superstar Kim Yeon-Koung scored 15 points for Fenerbahce and said: “We want to win the CEV Champions League this year. I think we have the strength and power to do so and to beat all other teams.”
Team captain Eda Erdem Dündar said: “We have qualified for the next round with two clear wins. I would like to thank all those who believe in us and who have come to support our team.”
Fenerbahce coach Marcello Abbondanza said: “We beat a tough team. I would like to congratulate my players because they played with all of their hearts up to the last point.”
Madelaynne Montano, the Colombian opposite of Chemik POLICE, said: “It was a difficult match. We gave the first set away because of some little details and we did not play well in the two remaining sets that followed.”
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