Akimova steals the show again as NOVARA reach #CEVChallengeCupW 16th Finals
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On Thursday night, VBC Saviola CASALMAGGIORE and Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA played each other for the third time within the space of eight days only, since their previous matchup in the qualification round of the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup was followed by an Italian national league fixture claimed by the team coached by Volleyball legend Lorenzo Bernardi as well. Yet again, Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA celebrated a 3-0 triumph (25-15, 25-18, 25-23) to progress to the next stage of the European competition.
Their Russian-born player Vita Akimova was awarded MVP for the fourth time in four official matches she has played for Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA this far. She had an amazing offensive performance, registering over 80% of spiking efficiency across the first two sets and a final personal tally of as many as 21 points.
In Viadana, at the very same venue where the Challenge Cup match was played on Thursday night, Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA had achieved their first European Cups qualification, doing so in 2014: in the last game of the Italian A1 National League regular season, the ‘Blue Girls’ defeated CASALMAGGIORE and made sure they would finish at least fourth in the final standing of the competition.
Another Russian-born player, Anastasiia Kapralova scored her first point with the shirt of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA in the third set (18-18). She joined the team less than a week ago, to substitute the German outside hitter Hanna Orthmann – who suffered an injury during EuroVolley this past summer.
Lorenzo Bernardi“My girls did a great job: they had the right attitude to the game, being aggressive and focused since the very beginning of the match. We knew that it would not be an easy match and we played good volleyball, proving that we are moving several steps forwards in our development path.”
Head coach of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA
Cristina Chirichella, middle blocker of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA: “We really wanted to achieve the qualification and I think that we showed it on the court, with our attitude. We won the home game 3-0 but everything was still very open, and we were ready to play a very hard and tough game. We did good, we did not let the opponents play their game and on the other hand we played like we had planned to do. Now we are looking forward to the next step of our European campaign, which will be in Norway: we cannot wait for it.”
Linda Manfredini“Probably we needed to be more aggressive and push more, since the beginning. We tried, and we fought till the end, but our opponents proved to be stronger. We had to risk a lot, both in attack and in serving, but we could not make it. It is sad but the season is very long, and we will do our best to achieve good results.”
Player of VBC Saviola CASALMAGGIORE
Former Champions League winners Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA qualified for this year’s Challenge Cup by winning the WEVZA Cup contested this past September. Their next opponent in the 16th Finals scheduled for early and mid-November will be Norway’s RANDABERG IL.