Easy victories for the favorites and teams that have already secured the knockout stage after four rounds: VakifBank and Skandići from Group A, Fenerbahçe and Novara from Group B, Vero Volej Milano and Ezaçibaşı Istanbul from Group C, Conegliano and Ankara Zeren Sport from Group D, and Palmberg and Rešovija from Group E.
This is the epilogue of the never less interesting 4th round of the Zeren Champions League for women's volleyball, writes odbojka.me.
In the remaining two rounds of the group stage, there will be battles for the first places, which bring direct passage to the quarterfinals, or the best third-place position, which together with the second-place teams will lead to the round of 16.
The most interesting match of the round, as befits it, was a jubilee match - Fenerbahçe and Novara played the 2.000th match in the history of the Champions League at the “Burhan Felek” hall in Istanbul, and how else could such a match end except in five sets.
In the end, the favorite, home team Fenerbahçe, won (20:25, 25:22, 25:12, 20:25, 15:10), which has 11 points and is one step away from first place and a place in the quarterfinals.
Arina Fedorovtseva was key in the tie-break, but also in the entire match, finishing with 24 points (20 from the attack, with 47% success rate and four aces), while Melisa Vargas added 22 points.
The team was key, not individuals. We were truly a team on the court – we cheered each other on, pushed each other in good and bad times. I really wanted matches like this and I hope we can keep this energy. We have a great season ahead of us, said Fedorovtseva, the match MVP.
VakifBank, another Turkish giant, is the only team with the maximum 12 points, having lost only two sets in the four rounds so far.
In front of around 1.700 spectators in the VakıfBank Spor Saraj hall, Tijana Bošković and her friends, in another authoritative match, only 68 minutes were enough to deal with the Romanian Alba Blaž (25:19, 25:13, 25:20).
Chiaki Ogbog was awarded the MVP award.
"First of all, I want to congratulate my teammates on the games we played this month. It was extremely difficult – we played nine or ten games in one month. It's not easy to stay focused, but we managed. We came with a clear goal to take three points and win 3:0. I'm overjoyed, and the MVP award means a lot to me. Our reception today was great, which made it easier for the middle blockers. We worked hard and stayed as focused as possible," said Ogbogu.
The results:
GROUP A
VakifBank - Alba Blaž 3:0
Skandići - Volero 3:0
Table: VakifBank 12, Skandići 9, Volero 3, Alba Blaž 0.
GROUP B
Fenerbahce - Novara 3:2
Budovlani Lođ - Benfica 3:0
Table: Fenerbahce 11, Novara 7, Budovlani Lodz 4, Benfica 2.
GROUP C
Vero Volley Milano - Železničar Lajkovac 3:0
Ezakhibashi - Olympiacos 3:0
Table: Vero Volley Milan 10, Ezakybashi Istanbul 9, Olympiacos 5, Železničar 0.
GROUP D
LSK Lođ - Ankara Zeren Spor 0:3
Koneljano - Drezden 3:0
Table: Koneljano 11, Ankara Zeren Spor 10, Drezden 3, LSK Lođ 0.
GROUP E
Rešovija - Levaloe Paris 3:1
Palmberg - Marica Plovdiv 3:0
Table: Palmberg, Rešovija 9, Marica Plovdiv 4, Levaloe Paris 2.
Bonus video:
