Club World Cup, Milan dominates Zamalek and flies to semifinals

Club World Cup: Vero Volleyball Milan- Zamalek Sporting Club 25-9 25-13 25-18

After the clear knockout against Tianjin on the second day of the group stage of the Club World Cup, Numia Vero Volley Milan immediately reared its head again in the third and decisive act. The Stefano Lavarini-coached lineup, despite the massive turnover, è imposed itself with a peremptory 3-0 (25-9; 25-13; 25-18) over the Egyptian Zamalek Sporting Club.

Milan got off to an immediate rocket start in the first set, quickly taking a 9-0 lead. The Egyptian team finally manages to break free and tries to shorten the distance, but there’è little to do. In fact, Vero Volleyball administers the lead and keeps its opponents at arm’s length, imposing itself with a severe 25-9.

In the second set, the score does not change, as once again it is the meneghine to give the first stretch thanks to an initial partial of 9-3.  Zamalek does what it can to keep the match open, but the score situation soon becomes critical and there is nothing more to do. In the sign of Cazaute, the only Milan athlete in double figures at the end of the match, Vero Volley triumphs 25-13 and puts the semifinal on ice.

The only hard-fought set è the third, where the Egyptian team managed to hold its own against the meneghine and even find the first lead of the match. However, a ruthless 12-0 partial finally truncated the Africans’ hopes of a comeback and paved the way for Lavarini’s girls, who closed the score on 25-18, putting qualification for the semifinals on ice.

Thanks to the wide gap inflicted on Zamalek, Milan gained the mathematical certainty of entering the next round of the competition, regardless of the result of the other Pool A match between Tianjin and Gerdau Minas. In all likelihood, in the semifinals, the meneghine will face Conegliano in an all-blue derby, as the only combination to win the round would be a 3-0 Gerdau victory with a maximum 28-point aggregate difference.