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Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul mastered a spectacular comeback from two sets down in their opening Pool D match. At home, at the Burhan Felek, the Turkish giants celebrated a 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-9) victory over Germany’s Allianz MTV Stuttgart.

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.