NOVARA extend impeccable record, CSM BUCURESTI and Oberbank Steelvolleys among 8th Finalists
News
On Wednesday night, Italy’s Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA claimed the seventh straight victory of their European campaign, if we were to include the WEVZA Cup contested earlier this season as well. The players coached by Lorenzo Bernardi recorded their fourth consecutive 3-0 win in the competition as they played host to Norway’s RANDABERG IL.
Valentina Bartolucci, setter of the Italian junior national team, was awarded as Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the game with the Scandinavians. She had a consistent performance in attack distribution and even scored seven points of her own. In the last section of the match, Italian libero Eleonora Fersino played in the unusual role of outside hitter. Due to the absence of middle blocker Cristina Chirichella, she was also the captain-on-court for the first time in her three-year-long experience in Novara. At the end of the match, both teams could celebrate: NOVARA for reaching the 8th Finals of the competition, RANDABERG IL for having played their best against such a much-decorated opponent. The two teams took a photo together under the net as a nice memory of the event.
RANDABERG IL stays unbeaten in Norway’s Eliteserien, with a perfect record of five wins in as many matches contested this far. For the Norwegian girls, titleholders of their national league, the Challenge Cup experience was a useful opportunity to further develop their skills.
Valentina Bartolucci“We are happy for having finished the work we started one week ago in Norway. The Challenge Cup is a very important competition for us, so we are giving our best to continue our European campaign till the final stages. We did not underestimate our opponent at all; we respected them and played our game smoothly. Now we are looking forward to playing Olympiacos in the next round.”
Setter of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA
Live Sørbø, setter of RANDABERG IL: “We had a lot of fun playing two games against one of the strongest teams in the world. We are used to being among the top teams in our country, so we were extremely happy when we got the chance to play NOVARA and we tried to enjoy these games as much as possible, trying to score as many points as we could. I am sure that these games will help with our growth, and I think that we showed a great team spirit.”
In a matchup featuring teams from neighbouring countries, CSM BUCURESTI of Romania could capitalise on their 3-1 home victory from last week as they re-played Fatum NYIREGYHAZA of Hungary away from home. The visitors caught a very promising start to the match as they claimed a six-point advantage in the early stages of the match, with Frenchwoman Guewe Diouf helping towards an impressive 15-7 lead. Fatum nevertheless attempted a comeback, and after Valerin Carabali’s ace, their gap was reduced to four points. However, after a break, the Romanians showed much accuracy in attack to secure a 25-17 set win. The beginning of the second set was a close affair, but CSM took the lead again with some good blocks. The hosts made too many mistakes and the Romanian team took advantage of this to further extend their advantage. In the end, the away team won the set comfortably (25-11), and this way secured their spot in the 8th Finals. At the beginning of the third set, the points were traded until 5-5 but soon CSM BUCURESTI moved the score to 10-5 in their favour. Fatum fought back and tried to reduce the deficit, but it proved to be a mission impossible, and the visitors eventually secured a comprehensive 3-0 win.
Austria’s reigning national champions Oberbank Steelvolleys LINZ have reached the 8th Finals as well. They did so after losing 1-3 their re-match with compatriots and domestic rivals TI-Volley INNSBRUCK before claiming the Golden Set by the score of 15-12. Last week, Oberbank had triumphed on home soil after four closely contested sets. Marie Nevot (20 points) and Emily Zinger (18) top scored for TI-Volley and Oberbank, respectively. It was already the fourth matchup between these two teams since the beginning of the current season. In the next stage of the Challenge Cup, Oberbank Steelvolleys LINZ will be playing Nilüfer Belediye BURSA of Türkiye.
“Anything can happen in the Golden Set. Luckily, we did show some nerves of steel there and scored the most important points,” said Oberbank head coach Facundo Morando. “We very much wanted to progress to the next round, this somehow blocked us, and in the first and second sets we failed completely.”
“After two horrible sets, we could fight our way back. Both teams could have won the Golden Set but towards the end we were more decisive. The promotion to the 8th Finals is a great thing. Congratulations to the whole team,” said Manager Andreas Andretsch.
Elsewhere, Avarca de MENORCA caused a sensation as they made up for their 1-3 loss last week in Azerbaijan to rout Azerrail BAKU in three straight sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-17) and claim the subsequent Golden Set as well (15-11). Pushed by their loyal fans, who filled the Pavelló de Ciutadella, the local favourites dominated the match from start to end and gave the visitors no real chance to react. In the next round, the Spaniards will be playing France’s Neptunes NANTES.