Developres earns three points in tough encounter with Vasas

Developres Rzeszow opened the fourth leg of the women’s CEV Champions League Volley 2023 pool stage with a 3-1 (25-10, 18-25, 25-13, 25-23) home win over Vasas Obuda Budapest on Tuesday. The Polish side improved to a 3-1 win-loss record and 8 points, standing second in Pool A, while the Hungarian team is still winless at the bottom of the pool standings on 0-4 and 1.

Unlike the first match between the two teams in Hungary, when Developres had to battle back from two sets down, this time the Polish team established total control right from the start. Outplaying the opponents on all counts in the first set, the home side quickly broke away and cruised on to a 25-10 blowout, with sub-in Weronika Szlagowska hammering the set winner at her only attempt in attack.

The second set was a completely different story. After trading points through 7-7, Vasas gained the initiative and started building up a margin. Spearheaded by American opposite Taylor Bannister, the Hungarian team stepped up its spiking efforts to dominate on the court. Azerbaijani middle blocker Ayshan Abdulazimova put the ball on the floor for the 25-18 winner to level the match.

Vasas stormed into the third set on a 3-0 run, but Developres reacted swiftly and just moments later it already had a 7-4 lead. They stepped up their serving and blocking efforts again and all the Hungarians could do from this point on was get back to within one on a couple of occasions. Led by their Georgian outside hitter Ann Kalandadze, the Polish side kept widening the gap until their Czech opposite Gabriela Orvosova closed the set at an emphatic 25-13.

Set four was the most competitive one. The lead went back and forth several times during the set and the gap went wider than two points only once, at 7-4 Developres’s way. Vasas improved its serving, while the home team was slightly better in attack and blocking. Orvosova owned the net producing nine points, but in the end it was Serbian outside Jelena Blagojevic that spiked successfully for 25-23 and the victory.

Ann Kalandadze topped the scorers’ chart of the match with 21 points, including three aces, and earned the Most Valuable Player nomination. Gabriela Orvosova added another 20 towards the victory, while Taylor Bannister was Vasas’s best scorer with 16 points.