News
CEV Champions League Volley 2021 Women
Both Dinamo Moscow and Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul had to persevere through five-set matches before celebrating victorious on Pool D opening day Tuesday. At the Burhan Felek in Istanbul, Dinamo snatched a 3-2 (25-23, 13-25, 27-29, 25-23, 17-15) win over Russian compatriots Lokomotiv Kaliningrad Region. Then the home team mastered a spectacular comeback from two sets down on the way to a 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-9) victory over Germany’s Allianz MTV Stuttgart.
Dinamo Moscow (RUS) vs Lokomotiv Kaliningrad Region (RUS)
3-2 (25-23, 13-25, 27-29, 25-23, 17-15)
Pool D
Sadly, just before the match, Lokomotiv’s Dutch setter Laura Dijkema made a social media announcement of the passing away of her mother, which explains her absence from the team’s roster in Istanbul.
The first half of the first set offered a tight and even battle until a couple of attacking errors by Lokomotiv gave Dinamo a 16-13 advantage. With Natalia Pereira on fire at the net, the Muscovites kept the pressure on. They celebrated their first set point a bit prematurely, since a successful block touch challenge by the opponents reversed the ref’s decision to re-set the score at 23-21. Two consecutive spikes by Margarita Kurilo wiped the gap out, but Loko’s serving error finally brought Dinamo to first set point, which Natalia converted to a 25-23 close with an ace.
In a completely one-sided second set, Lokomotiv stormed the court with a 4-0 run and never looked back. Some great blocking by Irina Voronkova helped her team dominate the set. Loko’s last attack was initially called out, but they successfully challenged it to finish it off at 25-13.
Riding the momentum, the girls from Kaliningrad took control of the scoreboard from the very start of the third set. Dinamo kept up the fight to stay close behind, but never quite managed to catch up, or at least not before Lokomotiv reached set point 24-22. With their backs against the wall, Dinamo scored three in a row to stay alive. The blockers on both sides of the net excelled in the overtime until Loko finally put an end to it all with a Voronkova hit for 29-27.
With a couple of changes in the line-up, Dinamo had the upper hand for pretty much the entire fourth set. While coach Andrei Voronkov was trying to change the course of the match with substitutions on Loko’s side of the net, Natalia Pereira and Nataliya Goncharova were leading the scorers for Dinamo. With setter Tatiana Romanova acing twice in a row, the gap went as wide as seven points at 20-13. Lokomotiv fought back to narrow it down to a point, but Pereira’s powerful hit delivered the 25-23 win and prompted a fifth set.
Four consecutive points gave Lokomotiv an early 4-1 lead in the tie-breaker, but shortly after, Dinamo responded with four in a row of their own to regain the lead at 7-6. A fierce point-for-point battle unfolded to push it into overtime until a wide attack by Voronkova stopped the clocks at 17-15 Dinamo’s way.
Russian standout Nataliya Goncharova and Brazilian star Natalia Pereira shared the top scorer honours of with 25 points apiece for the winners. The latter was named MVP of the match. Margarita Kurilo was Lokomotiv’s most prolific scorer on 24 points.
Allianz MTV Stuttgart (GER) vs Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul (TUR)
2-3 (25-22, 25-21, 17-25, 21-25, 9-15)
Pool D
Allianz MTV were well in control of the first set. Playing much better in attack, and with Maria Segura Palleres and Krystal Rivers leading the scorers, they stayed ahead to win by 25-22. With four points in a row, the German side took an early 4-1 lead in the second set. This time Eczacibasi fought back to gain control and step forward with a 13-9 advantage, only to allow the opponents a 14-14 comeback. After 20-18 Eczacibasi’s way, Allianz went on a 7-1 run, with Juliet Lohuis closing the set at 25-21 with a kill block.
The third set was a one-sided affair. The home team stormed with an early 7-2 lead. With Jordan Thompson spearheading Eczacibasi’s attack, they kept the pressure on and comfortably cruised on to a convincing 25-17 close. After some changes in the lead, the fourth set was level at 16-16, after which a 6-1 run gave the Turkish side the edge they needed to comfortably cruise on to a 25-21 win. Tijana Boskovic exploded with as many as 10 points in that set alone.
Only once in the tie-breaker the German team were ahead in the score, at 6-5. After that, it was all about Eczacibasi again. Boskovic was still on fire, but it was Thompson whot hammered an overpass to finish off the final stretch of four Eczacibasi points in row, fix the 15-9 win and claim a well-deserved MVP of the match nomination.
Tijana Boskovic topped the scorers’ chart of the match on 25 points, followed by Jordan Thompson on 23, while Krystal Rivers finished with 18 points for Allianz MTV. Beyza Arici impressed with seven kill blocks for Eczacibasi.
Marco Motta“Today it was important how we came back after the first two sets. After that we improved our attack in the third set and we started to control the game. We know that we are at 100% now, after the coronavirus cases we had suffered. But we know that we need to play this tournament match by match.”
Jordan Thompson“I think we started off the game a little bit rough. I think we came together as a team towards the end of the match and played solid and consistent. I think it was really the key factor of us winning and pulling our first win in the Champions League. So I am just really excited to get back at it tomorrow night.”
Maria Segura Palleres“I like the way my team played. I think we gave a lot of energy. We did a good job in blocking and defence and I think through that energy we won the first two sets. Eczacibasi VitrA is a really good team and they know when to push very well. I think we couldn’t change that into our turn in the third set. But tonight’s game was a good game for us. Tomorrow we will push for more.”