ACH Volley outlast Fenerbahce and advance to their third CEV Cup semifinal

Slovenia’s ACH Volley Ljubljana scored a second victory over Turkiye’s Fenerbahce Medicana Istanbul in their star-studded CEV Cup quarterfinal series and advanced to the semifinals of Europe’s second-tier club competition for the third time in history, staying on track to a possible second trophy, after winning the tournament in 2007. After a five-set home win last week, coach Igor Kolakovic’s squad produced a 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-16) away victory over the Turkish powerhouse at Istanbul’s iconic Burhan Felek volleyball hall on Thursday and progressed to a semifinal encounter with Italy’s Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza.

The match started very evenly, with the gap never exceeding a point until 16-15. A monster block by Polish setter Fabian Drzyzga, a couple of aces from him and from French middle blocker Barthelemy Chinenyeze, and a back-row kill from French outside hitter Earvin Ngapeth gave the home team the break points needed to edge ahead in the money time of the first set and close it off at 25-19 on yet another break point from a spike kill by opposite Adis Lagumdzija.

With opposite Toncek Stern spearheading ACH Volley’s offense, the Slovenian team established total control during the second set. They quickly got off to a seven-point lead and although Fenerbahce tried fighting back, they could only get back to within two at 21-19. ACH made a four-point sprint to a 25-19 close. Outside hitter and captain Tine Urnaut took the role of a setter for the last point, nailed by Alen Pajenk through the middle.

Stern stayed on fire in attack during the third set, but this time, he added a couple of serving aces to help his team stay in control. Fenerbahce also helped with an increased number of unforced errors. The set was characterized by long runs of points on both sides and finished with three in a row for ACH, crowned with an overpass kill by Pajenk for the 25-21 winner.

After 7-7 in the fourth set, the Slovenian squad broke away with a three-point advantage and never looked back. Their brilliant swinging brought up the team’s success rate in attack to an amazing 84% in the set, with a shining Stern continuing to deliver point after point. After 21-16, ACH sprinted home with four consecutive points. Stern fired two aces in a row to bring in match point. Another powerful serve forced the ball right back in ACH’s half after reception and for Pajenk it was not a problem to nail another set winner, this time closing the match at 25-16 and 3-1.

Toncek Stern earned a well-deserved Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match award. He was by far the best scorer of the game with an impressive 30 points under his belt, including four aces and a kill block. Spiking at an 85% success rate, Alen Pajenk added another 12 points, while Tine Urnaut also reached the double digits with 10. On Fenerbahce’s side, Adis Lagumdzija delivered a team-high 18 points. Earvin Ngapeth and Barthelemy Chinenyeze finished with 11 and 10, respectively.