#CLVolleyW Squads Let No Surprises Happen With Clear Victories This Weekend

It was a relatively comfortable weekend for most of the CEV Champions League Volley clubs in their domestic leagues since they faced off against relatively weaker opponents. Being aware of that, each of the superpowers took the court, aiming for victories without dropping any points, and they completed the weekend according to this goal. On the other hand, in the most anticipated clashes in Italy for Milano and Poland for Lodz, things were not that easy.

In one of the biggest matches of the weekend, the #CLVolleyW club Allianz Vero Volley Milano visited Igor Gorgonzola Novara in the seventh round of the Italian Serie A1 Women. The Milano side started the match quite powerfully and took the first set by a score of 25-16. After that, Novara started to show their strength, and the remaining sets were quite exciting. However, at the end of the day, Milano managed to win the fight in four sets: (3-1: 25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21).

The Italian superstar of the winning side, Paola Egonu once again showed with her performance: The elite opposite scored a total of 30 points, including two blocks. Even though Egonu was the main character in the victory, there was a hero who deserved to be MVP: The Dominican libero Brenda Castillo’s outstanding effort on the backside of the court (with 60% positive and 40% perfect reception) made her the Most Valuable Player of the clash. Russian young talent Vita Akimova tallied 24 points in Novara, followed by Italian middle blocker Cristina Chirichella with 11.

Milano, therefore, took their fifth win in their sixth match and completed the week in fourth place. Due to this failure, Novara lost their winning streak and fell to second position. Now, the new leader in Italy is A. Carraro Imoco Volley Conegliano, the only team remaining undefeated.

Another exciting clash took place in Poland, where #CLVolleyW participant LKS Commercecon Lodz fought against Grupa Azoty Chemik Police in the sixth week of the Polish Tauron Liga. Both teams had so many ups and downs throughout the clash, and the score was tied at 2-2 after the fourth set. With a superior game in the last set, Lodz overpowered their strong opponent by 3-2 (13-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-25, 17-15).

There was indeed a team play on Lodz, and four players scored in double digits. While the young Polish middle blocker Aleksandra Gryka was honored as the MVP of the game thanks to her 15 points, Julita Piasecka (16), Anastazja Hryshchuk (15), and Kamila Witkowska (10) helped their team to this huge victory. Polish outside hitter Martyna Lukasik’s 21 points were not enough for Chemik Police for victory.

Turkish representatives of the biggest club competition in Europe had no difficulties this weekend: Both VakifBank Istanbul, Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul, and Fenerbahce Opet Istanbul defeated their opponents without extending the match to the tie-break and completed the weekend with three points, maintaining their positions in the top three, respectively.

Including the huge battle of Milano in Italy and Lodz in Poland, the #CLVolleyW teams completed the weekend with victories, which makes them stronger in top positions and gets them ready for their new challenges.