FenerbahceAcibadem extends impressive positive streak after tremendous fight with Dinamo

2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League

Luxembourg, January 14, 2010. FenerbahceAcibadem ISTANBUL emulates the guys of Zenit KAZAN and after five rounds remains unbeaten in the preliminaries of the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League. Tonight the girls in yellow jerseys faced some troubles against Dinamo MOSCOW but eventually Katya Gamova helped out in extending this massive positive series and to come back from two sets down. The Italian champions of Scavolini PESARO of Italy came out with some bright smiles upon their faces as they stopped the run of another Turkish team, VakifGunesTTelekom ISTANBUL, in another tremendous five-setter. Finally, Belgian Knack Randstad ROESELARE is one step closer to the Playoffs 12 after a convincing 3:1 away victory against Spanish revelation CAI TERUEL.

Results

Men
CAI TERUEL (ESP) vs. Knack Randstad ROESELARE (BEL) 1:3 (21-25, 25-18, 15-25, 21-25)

Women
Scavolini PESARO (ITA) vs. VakifGunesTTelekom ISTANBUL (TUR) 3:2 (25-18, 25-23, 13-25, 21-25, 15-8)
FenerbahceAcibadem ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 3:2 (20-25, 14-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-13)

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CAI TERUEL of Spain and Knack Randstad ROESELARE enjoyed a very charming atmosphere for their game. The was extremely balanced with plenty of tension to be felt in the air. This pattern changed after the first technical time-out, when the Belgians gained a clear lead on the scoreboard, mainly thanks to some unforced errors of the Spaniards (11:16). The Belgian command of the game was evident and hence local coach Oscar Novillo opted for some substitutions. Although CAI TERUEL did manage to reduce the gap up to 3 points, they were ultimately unable to perform a real comeback, the set finishing at 21-25. TERUEL started off the second set much more focused, making less mistakes and notching, for the first time, a provisional lead. As if it were a mirror image of the first set, the table turned around and it was then Knack Randstad that did not perform well. The third set was, yet again, another story. The Belgians got off strongly and rapidly raced ahead (4:8). The home team found it difficult to score, their reception was shaky and ROESELARE stormed ahead to an impressive 8:16. Hence, taking the set was an easy task for the Belgians and it materialized in a few minutes (15-25). In the fourth set, Knack Randstad continued relentlessly its march towards the victory. CAI TERUEL failed to get their game together, whilst the Belgians were on top form. In the end, ROESELARE cruised to the final 3:1 to back up its chances to make it to the Playoffs 12. The top scorers in the match were Iban Pérez with 16 points for TERUEL and Mexican-born Ivan Contreras (20) for the guests. Belgian coach Dominique Baeyens stated: “The service was the key for our success, since it caused many troubles to their receivers”.

FenerbahceAcibadem ISTANBUL extended tonight its positive impressive streak in the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League defeating Dinamo MOSCOW in a thrilling five-setter and coming back from two sets down. About 1’300 supporters accompanied the hosts with their choirs and along with a small orchestra. In the first set Dinamo enjoyed a break right before the second technical time-out and maintained a good tempo to squeeze in for the 0:1 in the set count. The ambitious Russian ladies were playing really hard after having lost 3:0 at home against ISTANBUL and set the pace also in the second set. In the third set the girls of Fenerbahce fought back with all their hearts, tied at 20 and then Gamova scored 2 points in attack and for a couple of set balls at 24:22. Belgian setter Frauke Dirickx said the last word with a perfect attack. With the morale at the top, Fenerbahce dominated the fourth set and time had finally come for a much awaited tie-break. With both teams being already qualified for the Playoffs 12, still all players were searching for a victory. Dinamo led 5:8 as teams changed sides, then local coach Jan de Brandt called a time-out as the score had moved up to 5:9 for the Russians. After some great actions, there was a tie at 13. Guest setter Oksana Parkhomenko made a terrible mistake, Simona Gioli smashed the ball out and the game eventually went into the hands of the hosts. Local coach Jan de Brandt said: “I think we did not play very well today. If we had played at our regular level, the first two sets would have been much different. We had no service pressure, could not defend well enough but we managed to change our destiny. I think to play with subs players in the next match since we already secured the leadership in our Pool”. Captain Cigdem Can Rasna commented: “We started the match in a very bad way. After the third set, we picked up and were back into game. Dinamo is a very strong team. It was very important to come back from two sets down”.

The second match-up slated for tonight ended after five sets as well. Scavolini PESARO defeated VakifGunesTTelekom ISTANBUL in front of the home fans at the end of a very long and exciting battle. Scavolini started the first set in the best way leading 8:4, the Turks tried their best to keep up but the hosts were still ahead at the second technical break (16:13) and closed it out 25-18. The second set was a real fight from the beginning up to the end with the teams displaying some spectacular Volleyball. The Italian team finally prevailed 25-23 closing the set with a spike of Carolina Costagrande. The Turkish team started the third set with a huge break, leading 1:8 at the first technical time-out and closing easily 13-25. Local coach Angelo Vercesi tried different solutions during the set giving the chance to play to Marinkovic, Mari and Saccomani but ISTANBUL could always maintain full control of the operations. In the fourth set after a positive start of Scavolini the Turkish team set the pace for the final 21-25. However, the last set was in the hands of the Italians who were always ahead in the score and closed 15-8. Neslihan Darnel was awarded as MVP of the match scoring 26 points with 75% and 40% of efficiency in reception and attack respectively. At the end of the match, PESARO’s captain Martina Guiggi declared: “At the beginning of the third set there was a black out in our team and we were struggling 1:11. Obviously our confidence was gone and what happened there affected also the fourth set. We took again the control at the end of this set even though we lost it and this let us start the tie-break with the right attitude.” The visiting coach Giovanni Guidetti added: “It was a good match between two great teams. We performed well after we changed our tactics in the third set, the balance between the two teams was confirmed and some small details made the difference between winning and losing.”