Luxembourg, 3 March 2021. The first match of this CEV Champions
League Volley quarter-finals between these two Italian sides, that took place
last week, was one of the most balanced and exciting battles we had the opportunity
of seeing. If the 5 – set match that lasted 145 minutes is any indication of
what we will be seeing later today, then it’s time to find a comfortable seat
and enjoy the ride as one of the 4 semi-finalists will be uncovered.
All matches from the CEV
Champions League Volley are streamed live on EuroVolley.TV.
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Head to Head
Last week’s match was only the
third time that Conegliano and Scandicci have faced each other in the CEV
Champions League Volley, and as a testament to the balance mentioned before,
all three of these matches ended in 5 sets.
Imoco’s Italian superstar Paola
Egonu (38) and Scandicci’s Polish star Magdalena Stysiak (28) were the only
players to score more than 15 points in the first match, and their efficiency
today might very well turn out to be a deciding factor in who will be going
through to the semi-finals.
Could Conegliano make it all the
way this season?
If A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano
wins today it would be the fourth time that they would manage to reach the
semi-finals of the Europe’s premiere club competition. Their best result was a
runners-up finish in 2016/17 and 2018/19, the last of the two being a loss
against fellow Italians, Igor Gorgonzola Novara at the SuperFinals in Berlin, a
match in which Paola Egonu was Novara’s outstanding player.
Now, only a couple of seasons
later, Conegliano will be looking at Egonu as well to take them to their first
trophy in the competition. After being Conegliano’s top scorer last season with
110, before the competition halted, the 23-year-old Italian has been in
exceptional form this season as well, managing a team-high 125 points with an
incredible 6.94 set ratio, the best overall.
Still a long way to go until the
SuperFinals in Verona on 1st May, but Daniele Santarelli will be
confident enough that his team can go all the way this season, if they manage
to get passed Scandicci tonight.
Can a successful campaign get
even better for Scandicci?
Savino Del Bene Scandicci started
their CEV Champions League Volley season all the way back in the first round of
the competition and the only team from those early stages to still be in the
running for a semi-final spot. A win today for Massimo Barbolini’s team and a
spot among Europe’s elite 4 would be the best performance of the club in the
competition, a considerable motivating factor most would say.
If they are to make it through,
they will be needing their top player to perform again at the highest of
standards, as she has been doing up until now. Magdalena Stysiak is this season’s
top scorer with 196 points, having collected 21 aces along the way, at least 5
more than any other player and will most likely be joining the prestigious 200
points club in tonight’s match.
Make sure to tune in to EuroVolley.TV and watch all the action unfold live.