Dramatic finish sees THY clinch semi-finals berth; Blaj, Novara and Vasas also go through

There are only four teams remaining in the hunt for the title in the CEV Volleyball Cup Women, after the conclusion of the quarter-finals, which saw Igor Gorgonzola Novara, THY Istanbul, Vasas Óbuda Budapest and CS Volei Alba Blaj progressing to the penultimate phase of the competition.

The clearest win in the quarter-final was signed by Italian powerhouse Igor Gorgonzola Novara, the winners of the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup Women last season, which signed a clear 3:0 win in the away leg against Bulgarian outfit Maritza Plovdiv, after another 3:0 win on their home court.

So far, Novara have not dropped a set in the competition and dominated the second leg against Maritza pretty clearly, never dropping behind in the key moments. The closest set was the first one, which the Italian side took 25:21, followed by a dominating performance in the second and third sets, which finished with Novara clinching them 25:19 and 25:14 respectively.

Taylor Mims was Novara’s top scorer, with 16 points, with all but three players in the Italian roster scoring at least one point, and Novara boasting a 49% attacking efficiency throughout the match.

Novara will have a tougher challenge on their hands in the semi-finals, where they face THY Istanbul, which provided the most entertaining quarter-final, against Polish side BKS Bostik ZGO Bielsko-Biała, which came in the competition from the CEV Champions League Women.

After the Polish side took a 3:1 win in the first leg, THY bounced back and won the first two sets in the away match, 25:19 and 25:15. Powered by a fantastic match from Anthí Vasilantonáki, who had 21 points, THY Istanbul took the third set, 25:20, and pushed the doubleheader into a golden set.

With a 49% attacking efficiency, as opposed to the Polish side’s 30%, THY took early control of the golden set, leading 5:2 and 10:5, before sealing their semi-finals tickets with a dominating 15:7 ending.

A two-time winner of the competition in 1980 and 1981, Vasas Óbuda Budapest also made the semi-finals, despite conceding the second leg of the quarter-finals against Moya Radomka Radom, 2:3.

With a 3:1 win in the bag from the first leg, Vasas Óbuda Budapest could afford to win only two sets and this is exactly what happened, but they had to work hard for clinching them.

After the first two sets, Moya Radomka Radom were close to push the match into the golden set, taking a 25:15 and a 25:22 win. But then, Vasas bounced back. With 29 points from Fatoumatta Sillah and 23 points from Taylor Bannister, the Hungarian side delivered a fantastic comeback, taking the next two sets, 27:25 and 31:29, each time after having a 21:18 lead close to the end of the set.

The 31 points from Kristine Millen and 22 points from Monika Galkowska could only help the Polish side take a 3:2 win, with a 15:12 performance in the last set, but Vasas are the team progressing to the next phase, the only one to come from the CEV Champions League Women and make it into the penultimate act in the CEV Volleyball Cup Women.

The Hungarian side will face CS Volei Alba Blaj, which dropped a set after winning 3:0 against FC Porto in the first leg, but totally outplayed the Portuguese side.

Blaj secured a 25:13 win in the first set, dropping the second one, 23:25, but bounced back and thoroughly outplayed their opponents, with a 25:9 win in the third set and a 25:22 win in the fourth one.