Going into the match, Khimik Yuzhny was hopeful that Pool C leaders, Igor Gorgonzola Novarra will find it more difficult to be on their best game away from home, but they could not have been more wrong.

The Italian powerhouse showed great prowess to start the match in extremely strong fashion and determined to get a quick and compelling win. After a mirroring first two sets (14-25, 14-25) the third set became a mere formality as Novara claimed a much deserved win.

Massimo BARBOLINI, head coach of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA: "We achieved the very important victory in this tournament. I’m happy that we stayed concentrated all the game. It helped us to win.

Khimik is the good team but Yuzhny have not the strong opponents in your championship and to rise Ukrainian team must play in more strong championship."

Yuliya BOYKO, player of Khimik: "We wanted to win, we tried our best to win but the level skills of our opponent was higher than our level. It is the main reason of our defeat in this match"

Cristina CHIRICHELLA, captain of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA: "It was the very important match for us. We must win to join in the next round. We did it. I can’t say that game was easy for us. We had to be focused all the time to win the game."

Dmitry MARYUKHNICH, assistant coach of Khimik: "It was very important game for us to find our game that we lost after New Year especially in emotional direction. I think we did it despite the crushing score. It was a worthy match with a worthy opponent"