26/03/2019 23:36
Italian Butterflies fly to third #CEVCupW title
2019 CEV Volleyball Cup - Women
Busto Arsizio, Italy, March 26, 2019. It was a truly memorable night for Italy’s Volleyball family since shortly after TRENTINO’s success in the men’s final in Istanbul, Yamamay e-work BUSTO ARSIZIO secured their third title in the CEV Volleyball Cup – Women after previously standing on top of the podium in 2010 and 2012. This is also the first any trophy for the ‘Butterflies’ since they secured the Italian Super Cup in October 2012. In a wonderful Palayamamay, filled with 4,215 fans, Alessia Gennari and her teammates claimed also the return match with Romania’s CSM Volei Alba BLAJ, this time by 3-1 (25-27, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20), to clinch the second most-coveted title in European Volleyball.
• Sara Bonifacio secured a 2-1 lead for Yamamay in the match and this was enough to start the party since the Italians had recorded a 3-0 victory last week in Romania.
• After that, the fans could barely wait for the fourth set to finish and for their favourite players to stand on the podium.
• However, Yamamay had to work hard for this achievement and played well especially in defence, with Giulia Leonardi standing out, while her teammates recorded as many as 19 blocks.
• Kaja Grobelna joined the game in the third set and she contributed to the decisive break after Yamamay trailed 12-17. Setter Alessia Orro mastered Yamamay’s game with ease and command as Britt Herbots top scored with 22 points, followed by Alessia Gennari and Floortje Meijners with 12 apiece. Sara Bonifacio and Beatrice Berti were very prolific as middle blockers, with the latter scoring as many as six blocks. Ana Lazarevic and Katerina Zhidkova scored 10 points each for BLAJ.
Marco Mencarelli, head coach of Yamamay e-work BUSTO ARSIZIO: “We have crowned a great season where the group has always made the difference. In the first set, there was a lot of tension, but afterwards we played more loosely, even if the expectations were still high and this affected us a little bit. This match showed that Alba BLAJ definitely did not play at their top level last week and we had to deliver our best performance to lift the cup. It is my first victory with a club and therefore it is somehow special.”
Darko Zakoc, head coach of CSM Volei Alba BLAJ: “First of all I want to congratulate Yamamay e-work, the team, the club and their fans who created a fantastic atmosphere tonight. This evening we played better than we did seven days ago and I can be satisfied with this. However, there is some disappointment, because today we showed that we can play good Volleyball and so I think we lost the race for the victory because of our bad performance last week in Sibiu.”
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