Four 3:0 wins set up the tone for fiery second legs in the #CLVolleyW quarter-finals

The room for mistake will be little in the second leg of the quarter-finals in the current season of the CEV Champions League Women, after four sides have recorded 3:0 wins in this week’s first legs, meaning that they currently need only two sets to progress to the semi-finals.

While some of the matches had clear favourites, other legs were surprising in the dominance of a single team, such as Fenerbahçe Medicana Istanbul’s clear win against VakifBank Istanbul.

In their previous five clashes in the knockout phases of the European premium competition, Fenerbahçe were eliminated five times by VakifBank and the two sides shared home wins in this season of the Turkish league, but this time around, there was no stopping Marco Fenoglio’s side of taking a huge advantage before next week’s second leg.

Back in Fenerbahçe’s squad from the start of the year, Arina Fedorovtseva delivered yet another fantastic performance, with 18 points, while Melissa Vargas added 14, to lift their side to a clear 3:0 (25:21; 25:23; 29:27) win, which means Fenerbahçe are now closer to their fourth consecutive semi-final in the European premium competition.

Now, Fenerbahçe need to win two sets in the second leg to ensure qualification, while a 0:3 or a 1:3 loss against VakifBank will mean that a golden set will be played, a scenario which the three Italian sides find themselves in.

Reigning champions A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano had already won against Developres Rzeszów two times this season, with the only lost set in the CEV Champions League Women coming in the away match played against the Polish side in the 4th round of the competition.

But Conegliano pulled no punches and secured their 42nd consecutive win of the season in all competitions, and the 19th consecutive one in the European premium competition, with a dominating 3:0 performance, after a fantastic comeback in the third set.

While Conegliano clinched the first two sets with relative ease, 25:22 and 25:17, the third one needed a fantastic comeback, with the reigning champions being down 16:7 and 21:14. They won 15 of the next 21 points to clinch the third set, 29:27, as Zhu Ting had 18 points, while Gabi Guimaraes add 15 more points paving the way for a 3:0 win.

Savino Del Bene Scandicci became only the second Italian team in history to win seven matches on the trot without dropping a set, taking an important advantage before next week’s second leg against PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź.

The only team to not drop a set in the 4th round, winning six matches out of six with a 3:0 scoreline, Scandicci extended their dominating run against the Polish side, taking another 3:0 win, after Ekaterina Antropova scored 19 points and Ana Carolina da Silva, aka Carol, added 12 more points.

“Today I took the risk of sending Britt Herbots onto the court from the start, who had just one training session under her belt, but we know that by playing every three days it is clear that training also becomes the match. The goal is to take a step further towards the Champions League Final Four, we did it even if with some inaccuracies, especially in defense. Beyond the inaccuracies we still managed to bring home the first step of this quarter-final,” said Scandicci’s coach, Marco Gaspari.

Probably the biggest shock of the first leg of the quarter-finals came in the shape of a clear 3:0 win for Numia Vero Volley Milano against Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul, with the runners-up of the last season totally outplaying the Turkish challengers, and limiting star Tijana Boskovic to only 15 points.

With Paola Egonu in fine form, being the top scorer of the match, with 17 points, Milano started by dominating the first set from start to finish, a 16:8 lead proving decisive, as the Italian side took the first set, 25:18.

The second set was the most balanced, but Milano eventually took it 25:23, with the third one only confirming the dominance of the Italian side, 25:14.

Eczacibasi posted attacking efficiencies of 31%, 46% and 36%, not enough for a match of this calibre, needing a clear turnover of their performance in the second leg if they want to challenge for a place in the Final Four in Istanbul.