Blaj and Novara make big steps towards CEV Volleyball Cup Women final

CS Volei Alba Blaj and Igor Gorgonzola Novara made the first step towards the CEV Volleyball Cup final, securing wins in the first leg of the semi-finals of the second-tier European competition.

While Novara secured a 3:0 home win against THY Istanbul and need only two sets in the away leg, Blaj had a roller-coaster of a match against Vasas Óbuda Budapest, conceding the first and the third sets, only to bounce back and clinch the last two sets for a crucial win.

Vasas Óbuda Budapest, the only team in contention originating from the CEV Champions League Women, now need to win the second match to secure their dream of lifting a European trophy.

Blaj will likely be favoured in the second leg, which will be played in a sold-out arena on their home court, after a fantastic display, despite conceding the first set, 24:26, and the third one, 9:25, against Vasas.

23 points from the MVP of the match, Yelizaveta Ruban, with 19 points from Monika Krasteva, helped Blaj mount a sturdy comeback, taking the fourth set, 25:18, as well as the fifth one, 15:9, to win the match.

Stopping Taylor Bannister’s fantastic match, with 28 points, Blaj can now dream of their fifth European final in the last seven years, having been runners-up in the CEV Champions League Women in 2017/18, in the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup Women in 2020/21 and in the CEV Volleyball Cup in 2018/19 and 2022/23.

“I am satisfied with the team’s fighting spirit. We need to analyze our blocking and be more aggressive in this area, as well as improve our serving. However, we believe that we can still reach the final, as this was just the first match,” said Vasas’ coach, Giannis Athanasopoulos.

With seven wins in the previous eight matches in the competition, Igor Gorgonzola Novara delivered yet another excellent performance in the first leg of the semi-finals, taking a 3:0 win against THY Istanbul, which now means they need to win only two sets to advance to the final.

The Italian side is eyeing back-to-back European trophies, after securing the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup last season, and will be buoyed by their performance, despite the match being close throughout the first and the third sets.

Lisa Alsmeier had 15 points, while Tatiana Tolok added 14 points for Novara, which took the first set, 25:23, then dominated clearly in the second one, 25:18, only for the third set to be balanced, as THY had an excellent player in Anthi Vasilanthonaki, with 18 points.

THY managed to save a match point, after the two teams went head-to-head until the end of the set, but a kill block from Taylor Mims made it 26:24 and Novara won the match in straight sets.

“We know that the return match will be the decisive one but it is certainly important to get there with a victory, even though THY has already shown that it has the qualities to overturn the result, as it did in the previous round,” said Novara’s coach, Lorenzo Bernardi.