10/03/2016 23:30
VakifBank claim hard-fought home victory over Volero in Playoffs 6 opening round
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women
Istanbul, Turkey, March 10, 2016. On Thursday night Turkey’s VakifBank ISTANBUL claimed the first much anticipated matchup with Switzerland’s Volero ZÜRICH in the Playoffs 6 of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women. The 2011 and 2013 CL gold medallists had the upper hand after five close sets (25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 15-13) to get a small edge for the second leg which is scheduled to take place in two weeks in Zurich. The eventual winners of this double clash will secure their qualification for the Final Four tournament scheduled for April 9-10 in Montichiari, Italy.
Even though they did not catch a flying start, VakifBank ISTANBUL claimed the opening set coming from behind. The second set was closely contested as well but in the end VakifBank were able to celebrate their second 25-23 win. Volero responded by setting the pace of the game in the third set, which the Swiss champions eventually claimed by 25-22. The fourth set was a close race as well with Volero finally calling for the tie-break (25-23). VakifBank stayed cool and eventually claimed a hard-fought home victory after securing the tie-break at 15-13.
Dutch opposite Lonneke Slöetjes (pictured) was the top scorer in the match for VakifBank with 26 points, followed by middle blocker Milena Rasic (22) and team captain Gözde Kirdar with 14. Natalya Mammadova paced Volero with 22.
The head coach of VakifBank ISTANBUL Giovanni Guidetti said after the match: “We claimed the first round of this double header but this doesn’t mean anything, because we have to win the next match as well. Of course we are happy with this victory. We could have finished it 3-1 but we provided our opponent with a chance to claim the fourth set. Volero have a very tall and physically strong team, and that is the main reason that they stand strong till the last point. I am convinced that we can win also the re-match in Zurich and will qualify for the Final Four.”
VakifBank Dutch star Robin de Kruijf commented: “It’s always great to win, however for this match I would have preferred a 3-1 victory. We still have one more difficult game ahead, but we have no doubt that in the end we will qualify for the Final Four. In order for this to happen, we have to perform better in Zurich than we did tonight. I congratulate my teammates and thank our fans for their amazing support up until the last point of this match.”
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