Scandicci Took The Second Place With A Five-Set Win Over Milano, VakifBank Became Leader in Türkiye

This weekend, there were many huge changes at the top of the charts in the most elite national leagues of the continent. In the biggest clash of this domestic round, two #CLVolleyW squads faced off in Italy for the vice-leader position, and Scandicci became victorious in the thrilling five-setter against Milano. At the same time, VakifBank took the lead in Türkiye because of the unexpected defeat of Eczacibasi, and Budowlani Lodz side suffered a straight-set defeat against Commercecon in Poland.

Without a doubt, all eyes were on the huge battle in Italy, where two CEV Champions League Volley contenders, Numia Vero Volley Milano and Savino Del Bene Scandicci took the court against each other. There was a huge fight from the first ball to the last, and both teams put a great effort into the court, which resulted in a 2-2 tie after four sets. In the determining tie-break, the Scandicci side slightly played a better game, especially at the end of the set, and left the court with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 15-12) victory.

The Serbian star setter of the winning side, Maja Ognjenovic was honored with the MVP title, and the most productive player was Italian opposite Ekaterina Antropova with a total of 34 points, including five aces and three blocks. Italian superstar Paola Egonu’s 21 points were not enough for Milano to secure the win.

Thanks to this result, Scandicci and Milano changed places with each other in the charts, where the winning team took the vice-leader position. With a comfortable win, reigning #CLVolleyW champions A. Carraro Imoco Volley Conegliano maintained their perfect record and first place.

One of the #CLVolleyW squads from Türkiye, Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul hosted Galatasaray Daikin in the 12th round of the Turkish Sultanlar League. Except for the second set, there was a huge dominance from the Galatasaray side throughout the game, which concluded with a shocking defeat for Eczacibasi by a score of 1-3 (22-25, 25-11, 14-25, 19-25). Due to this failure, Eczacibasi took their second loss in the national season and dropped to third place from the top. Now, VakifBank Istanbul and Fenerbahce Medicana Istanbul started to lead the charts respectively, by taking 3-0 wins over their weaker opponents.

The Polish #CLVolleyW club, who also started the weekend as leaders, PGE Grot Budowlani Lodz met one of their biggest rivals, LKS Commercecon Lodz in the 11th leg of the Polish Tauron League. The visitor, Commercecon side clearly performed a better game in each set, and they overpowered Budowlani in straight sets (3-0: 25-17, 25-17, 25-19).

The Polish outside hitter Natalia Medrzyk was selected as the Most Valuable Player with her 15-point performance. Serbian international Jelena Blagojevic tallied 11 points on the losing side. Due to this defeat, the Budowlani side also lost their top place in the overall standings to Commercecon. Developres Rzeszow, completed the weekend with a four-set win, placed in second rank.

This weekend, we saw too many changes in the top positions in the top leagues: The teams that entered the week as leaders, Eczacibasi in Türkiye and Budowlani Lodz in Poland, lost their top spots after suffering defeats in their battles. Likewise, in the competition for the second position in Italy, the Scandicci side won in the last breath over Milano. Now, each team has already started to focus on their next continental games, since the second half of the #CLVolleyW group stage is about to begin. We will see how the new and previous leaders will react in the most prestigious tournament in Europe.