Reigning world club champions A. Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO wasted no time on Thursday showing all of Europe they are a clear favorite for the 2021 Champions League Volley title. Within minutes of the match against Fenerbahce Open ISTANBUL they showed what they were capable of. The Turkish team were trailing from the start and didn't catch up to the masterful performance of Joanna Wolosz and her fierce spiking squad. The match went the way of CONEGLIANO in just 71 minutes, 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-19).

The team of coach Daniele Santarelli dominated from the start of the match. On Paola Egonu's serve they increased their lead from 6-4 to 12-4. Blocking was on point in the opening set, scoring 5 points. Almost everything went the way of the Panthers. They raced to a 25-14 win.

Fenerbahce looked overwhelmed, but with some extra risks on serve and i attack, they were able to take a lead in the second set: 17-14. But then, Imoco Volley bounced back. They had a run of points, scoring 11-2 in the remainder of the set. And with 25-19 the second set was theirs.

In the third nothing seemed to hold CONEGLIANO back anymore. Setter Joanna Wolosz reached all of her spiker and was deservingly chosen as the MVP. She made everyone shine on court. Miriam Sylla injured her back after a block, but it didn't hold back the charge of Imoco. They won again with 25-19.

• Paola Egonu was top scorer of the match with 18, 4 of which were aces.
• CONEGLIANO out blocked Fenerbahce 12-3
• CONEGLIANO have won the first tournament and lead Pool B with 9 points from three straight set victories
• Fenerbahce are second in Pool B, they will fight on for the quarterfinals in France when Pool B return late January

Naz Aydemir Akyol, Setter of Fenerbahçe Opet ISTANBUL
"Imoco, the last World Champion, perhaps the best team in Europe. This match could have gone better. I hope we play a much better match next round."

Robin de Krujif of A.Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO
"It feels amazing to have won all three games 3-0. This match in particular was what we've been working on for the past four months, so we are really happy about it and also to be back playing in the Champions League against such great teams"

Bianka Busa of Fenerbahce Opet ISTANBUL
"They played a really good game and it was hard for us to fully express ourselves. Three games in three days have also been tiring and difficult for us to play, but now we go back to the Turkish League and continue to improve our game"