Led by birthday girl Fedorovtseva, Fenerbahçe put one foot in CLVolleyW next phase
Report
Birthday girl Arina Fedorovtseva, who turned 18 this Wednesday, shined once again on the #CLVolleyW court, leading her Fenerbahçe Opet ISTANBUL towards a straight-sets win in the Super Match of the Week in Europe’s elite competition. The Turkish powerhouse met the Bulgarian champions from VC Maritza Plovdiv, outclassing them in a fixture that lasted 67 minutes. With 13 points to her name, Fedorovtseva made herself a birthday gift, being named MVP of the game.
The fans of Fenerbahçe had one more reason to celebrate, as they saw Melissa Vargas (who had previously competed three seasons in the club) coming back on the court in Istanbul after finishing her duties with the Chinese team Tianjin. Vargas finished with 10 points in the match.
This is the fourth victory for the Turkish team in Pool D - an important step towards continuing in the quarterfinals of CLVolleyW. Eda Erdem and her teammates have 11 points so far, currently topping the charts.
In their 50th match in the European Cups and 40th in the Champions League, the Bulgarian champions from Maritza Plovdiv tried to disappoint the Turkish powerhouse, but with no success.
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Counting on a roster, currently made up of Bulgarian players only, the players of head coach Borislav Krachanov started better in the match, taking an early lead at 8-3 in their favour. Fedorovtseva pushed on the serve and the hosts got closer, but still struggled to take full control. Fans in Burhan Felek sports hall enjoyed then a point-for-point race. However, the Turkish side showed better class, with Melissa Vargas scoring important balls in the last deciding moments. 15-year-old Bulgarian Iva Dudova entered the court, but couldn’t help much to her team, while on the other side of the net there was Fedorovtseva who made it quite difficult for the Bulgarian reception with two aces towards the end of the set.
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The next two sets didn’t offer much intrigue, as Fenerbahçe dominated, outclassing the opponents on all counts. The hosts were able to seize as many as 16 winning spikes in the second set, while the Bulgarian struggled to organize their attack (only six). The players around head coach Zoran Terzic stormed out in the last set as well, acing eight times to zero by Maritza.
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Overall, Fenerbahçe proved better on attack (42 to 23, 50% efficiency) and on the serving line (15 aces to three). The Bulgarian champions were slightly better on the block (four to three).
Arina FEDOROVTSEVA“We are really happy about this victory! We get the three points, this is what we wanted to. Besides that, such matches are a good practice for us, and we take every opportunity.”
Player of Fenerbahçe Opet ISTANBUL
Eda Erdem Dündar“We extend our winning streak, and we are very happy. Champions League is a long marathon, and we will do our best to finish first in the group. Special thanks goes to our supporters.”
Captain of Fenerbahçe Opet
Borislav Krachanov"We played quite well in the first set and, at times, we outperformed our opponent. The fact that we are a younger team was evident at the end of the game. We were leading in the first set until the deciding moments, but due to three individual mistakes, we let the opponent win the part. I am glad that we have an entirely Bulgarian team that plays a decent Volleyball."
Head coach of VC Maritza Plovdiv