With a 3-2 defeat of Budowlani Łódź, Eczacıbaşı VitrA Istanbul have successfully finished the first step of their #CLVolleyW campaign as the first ranked team in Pool A.

While they had already secured their quarter-final spot two weeks ago with a 3-2 victory over Fenerbahçe Opet, their last match in Pool A was a challenging one as they defeated Lodz in five thrilling sets, coming back from being 0-2 down.

Eczacıbaşı VitrA made a good start to the first set with the help of outside hitter Sonja Newcombe’s balanced performance both offensively and defensively. Anastasiia Kraiduba from Budowlani Łódź took the lead in the first set by scoring a total of 12 points, carrying her team to a 25-17 leadance in the first set. Eczacıbaşı VitrA star Hande Baladın who got injured in the late parts of the first set was substituted with Natalia Pereira.

In the second set, both teams have pushed each other well until Lodz grabbed the set by 27-25.
Making a powerful comeback through Tijana Boskovic’s attacks, Eczacıbaşı VitrA won the third set by 25-19. Tigers brought in 4 blocks in the third set.

Continuing their successful block performance in the fourth set with the help of their young middle blocker Yasemin Güveli, home team has shown that they are not done yet (25-21).

Top-scorer was Anastasiia Kraiduba from the Polish side with 33 points. Her performance was followed by Tijana Boskovic and Natalia Pereira from Eczacıbaşı VitrA with 22 points each. Tijana Boskovic was selected the Most Valuable Player of the match.