A. CARRARO PROSECCO DOC IMOCO CONEGLIANO-ANKARA ZEREN SPOR KULÜBÜ 2-3
(25-21 | 25-17 | 19-25 | 30-32 | 13-15)
A. Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano: Gabi ne, Zhu 24, Scognamillo, Ewert 1, Lubian 4, De Gennaro, Haak 14, Munarini ne, Wolosz, Adigwe 11, Daalderop 4, Chirichella 8, Fahr 11, Sillah 8. Coach Santarelli
Ankara Zeren Spor Kulübü: Alkan, Karadas ne, Ercan Küçükaslan, Akman 22, Lazareva 8, Arici 8, Gatina 17, Erkul 9, Onal, Uzelac 28, Sahin 1, Malinov 2. Coach: Ljubicic
Referees: Lots (BEL) and Lecourt (FRA)
Attendance: 4730
Set length: 25′ – 28′ – 24′ – 38′ – 19′
Notes: service error Co 10, An 6; aces 6-6, blocks 11-9
MVP: Malinov
Antonio Carraro Prosecco DOC Conegliano hits the target: Ankara Zeren Spor passes 3-2 at Palaverde, but the Panthers, by virtue of the two sets won tonight after tonight’s clear victory, snatch the pass for the Final Four of CEV Zeren Group Champions League. The Final Four will be played at the Ülker Sports Arena in Istanbul on May 2-3 : this is the fourth F4 in the history of the yellow-blues, the Panthers will play their eighth semifinal in the competition (third in a row) against the winner of the match between Numia Vero Volley Milano and Vakifbank.
Gabi and Munarini are back available, coach Daniele Santarelli does not change his sextet compared to Game 1 against Novara on Sunday: captain Wolosz on the dribble, Haak opposite, Zhu and Sillah places 4, Fahr and Chirichella in the center, De Gennaro free. For coach Ljubicic play Malinov, Lazareva, Uzelac, Gatina, Erkul, Arici, libero Alkan.
Haak uncorks the Panthers’ match with a service turn that leads to the first break (exceptional at the start with 8 points with 67% in attack), the Swede packs the 9-7 after Zhu’s first point of the match. Arici blocks twice and finds the ace, but after the first time-out called by the guest bench it is still the Panthers who score first with Haak (16-13). Scognamillo and De Gennaro work cleanly in defense on the return of Zeren (18-16), Daalderop makes Zhu breathe, Lazareva is a constant for the Turks, as well as Haak for Antonio Carraro (22-19). Thefinal break comes with the blocks of Fahr and Sillah, it is 1-0 (25-21, central with 11 points and 3 blocks in the match).
Lightning-fast start for coach Santarelli’s team, Haak clears the table with the service (4-0, 14 points, 1 ace and 59% in attack for the opposite), Ankara holds its own and finds its moment with Uzelac (7-6). Zhu fixes a wall that opens a new gash in the partial, Fahr’s ace and Chirichella’s hands under the net force coach Ljubicic to a new interruption (13-7). The understanding between captain Wolosz and Chirichella grows (18-10, central top scorer of the partial with 5 points), space for Daalderop and Lubian at the end of the set: Chirichella again on the shields (23-16), applause for the very long exchange success. It is Zhu Ting who is worth the 2-0 and the Final Four for the Panthers (25-17, 24 points with 50% in attack).
Adigwe and Ewert are the novelties of the third set, Fahr returns: with Uzelac’s ace Zeren rises to +4 (1-5), it is always a winning serve, but by Lazareva to give a good push to the guests (3-10). Zhu halves the disadvantage (6-10, 5 points with 62% for the Chinese), but with Uzelac Ankara tries to escape (6-14). Two rings of Lubian with block and fast (11-17), the rotations for coach Santarelli continue with Scognamillo and Daalderop, Adigwe blocks the way to the wall (15-20). But the distance with Ankara is unbridgeable, Lazareva blocks and shortens (19-25).
It is also a real game in the fourth set: Fahr blocks and closes a “megarally” (3-2), the Panthers go out of their way to keep all the balls and stay in the wake of a Zeren who honors the commitment in a big way (7-9). Ewert packs the ace for 9-9, the new tear of Zeren with Lazareva leads coach Santarelli to time-out (13-16). Zhu does not slow down and Antonio Carraro is still there (17-18), Adigwe signs the equalizer at 20 and fixes the advantage with a lightning bolt from 9 meters (22-21, 7 points in the set for the young opposite): we go to the advantages, Fahr cancels a set point and gives a match point with the ace (29-28), after a strenuous resistance the Panthers give in on Lazareva’s winning serve (30-32).
We remain on the piece for the tie-break: uphill start for the Panthers (0-2), Chirichella returns and impacts (4-5, 8 points including 4 blocks with 50% in attack), Zhu equalizes (6-6), with Uzelac we go to the change of court at 6-8. De Gennaro and her teammates chase again with Fahr (8-10), Wolosz and Haak return to dictate the law by canceling two match points to the guests, then Gatina closes the match with 13-15.
The Panthers will dive back into the championship for Game 2 of the semifinals of the Serie A1 Tigotà Scudetto play-offs against Igor Gorgonzola Novara, which will be played on Saturday 21 March at 21.15 at the PalaIgor in Novara. The pre-sale for Game 3 on Tuesday 24 March at 20.30 at the Palaverde is already open, info and tickets available on the Vivaticket.com website.
PHOTOGALLERY AND POST-MATCH INTERVIEWS ON IMOCO VOLLEY’S SOCIAL PROFILES
(photo Gregolin)