Can Vasas and THY mount comebacks in the second legs of the CEV Volleyball Cup Women's semi-finals?

CS Volei Alba Blaj and Igor Gorgonzola Novara are in primed position to secure a place in the CEV Volleyball Cup Women final, after winning the first legs of the semi-finals against Vasas Óbuda Budapest and THY Istanbul respectively.

For Blaj, this would be the fifth European final in the last seven years, with all the previous four lost, as the Romanian side needs to win the match to progress, while a 3:2 Vasas win would see the match enter the golden set, where everything is possible.

It was a nip-and-tuck affair in the first leg, with Blaj going down early, after Vasas took the first set, 26:24, only for the Romanian side to bounce back and secure a 25:19 win in the second set.

The third one went clearly to Vasas, 25:9, but Blaj delivered a fantastic ending of the match, clinching the fourth set, 25:18 and dominating the fifth one, 15:9, to ensure that they are one step away of their third CEV Volleyball Cup Women final in the past six years.

“In the lost sets, Blaj put a lot of pressure on us with their openings, which was key. In the second set, after 17-17, we could have been more precise, but our unforced errors were included in the game. Despite this, I am not dissatisfied with the fighting spirit of our players, and we need to analyze our block defense, because we need to be more aggressive in that in the return match. We also need to serve better, but we believe that we can reach the finals outside, because this was only the first match,” said Vasas’ coach, Giannis Athanasopoulos, after the first leg.

So far, Blaj have won four out of four matches played at home in this season’s CEV Volleyball Cup Women, while the Hungarian side first played in the CEV Champions League Women and eliminated Moya Radomka Radom in the quarter-finals.

The second leg of the semi-final between Alba Blaj and Vasas is scheduled for Tuesday, 11 March, at 17:00 CET.

In the other semi-final, Igor Gorgonzola Novara can continue their pursuit of their fourth European trophy in history, after winning the first leg against THY Istanbul, on their home court, 3:0.

Novara have been earmarked as the favourites for the trophy in this season of the CEV Volleyball Cup Women, having won six of the seven matches played so far, with the only exception being the away match against Kuzeyboruspor, another Turkish side, which they conceded, 1:3.

But Novara bounced back and have dominated the next matches against Turkish opposition, taking the golden set against Kuzeyboruspor, 15:5, and three sets of the first leg against THY, 25:23; 25:18 and 26:24.

“ I am very happy with the result, we know that the semifinal will be long and tough, with the return match to be played at their home, but we started in the best possible way. It took us a moment to adapt, because we didn't know that they had some absences and an unusual starting six, but then we found the right balance, managing the situation in the best possible way,” said Novara’s Lina Alsmeier after the first leg.

Between the two legs of the semi-final against THY, Novara also won the first match of the play-offs in the Italian league, 3:0 against Chieri’76, returning in fine form for their qualification challenge.

The second leg of the semi-final between Novara and THY is scheduled for Thursday, 13 March, at 12:00 CET.