Well-balanced clash between Stuttgart and Rzeszów to end play-offs' first leg
After two consecutive 3:0 away wins to start the play-offs, the third doubleheader which will deliver a team in the quarter-finals of this season’s CEV Champions League Women, between Allianz MTV Stuttgart and Developres Rzeszów, looks to be more balanced.
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Both sides finished on the second place in their pools, but Developres Rzeszów had four wins, while the German side secured only three wins, conceding two losses against the top placed pool winner, Savino Del Bene Scandicci, as well as another loss against Polish side BKS Bostik ZGO Bielsko-Biała.
Stuttgart conceded the loss against Bielsko-Biała in their debut, 1:3, but then bounced back and made sure there were no issues regarding their qualification, clinching a 3:1 win in the second match between the two sides, on their home court.
Nevertheless, the German side did not have a flawless form on their home court, where they conceded at least a set against every opponent they played against, losing 0:3 against Scandicci and winning against Bielsko-Biała, as well as CSO Voluntari 2005, 3:2, with a 15:8 walkthrough in the decider, which basically sealed their safe passage towards the knockout phase.
The two sides also met last season, in the pool phase, when Rzeszów took a 3:2 win on their home court, while conceding a 2:3 away loss against Stuttgart. If that scenario is copied in this doubleheader, a golden set would decide the quarter-finalist in this season.
Stuttgart will rely once again on their top scorer, Krystal Rivers, who is the second best scorer so far in the European top competition, after the 4th round. The American star scored 51 points combined against Rzeszów in the previous season and continued to do a great job this time around, with 111 points, or an average of 5.29 points scored per set in the 4th round this season.
The German side can secure their third consecutive quarter-finals berth and their fifth in history, but will need to take all their chances, especially in this home match, which looks pivotal for the fate of both sides in the competition.
“The opponent has a really good base overall they can work with. Therefore, it is really hard to break their side-out. They are a very physical team; it will be a big challenge for us. I am already very proud of the team on how we handled this difficult group this year. On Thursday it will be everyone’s game,” said Stuttgart’s coach, Konstantin Bitter.
Rzeszów have made it through from the pool phase for the fourth time in history, but have qualified for the quarter-finals only twice, in the 2021/22 and the 2022/23 seasons. Now, they aim to return between the top eight sides in the European premium competition.
The physical nature of the Polish side is also represented by the excellent performance of middle blocker Agnieszka Korneluk, who has the joint-largest number of kill blocks this season, 18, alongside Neptunes Nantes’ Haylie Bennett.
So far, the Polish side has won three matches and lost three matches against German opposition in the 4th round, but have never matched up against a German side in the knockout phase of the CEV Champions League Women.