Chieri and Novara rejoice in European cups
Chieri and Novara ok
Awaiting Wednesday’s match in Rome, Italy è already certain to have a team in a European final.
After 34 victories in as many matches played Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 in fact loses its unbeaten streak in Europe, but hits the goal dreamed by all the biancoblù people by conquering the CEV Challenge Cup finals. This was the epilogue of the return semifinal that saw the Galatasaray Daikin overturn the score of the first leg by imposing themselves 1-3 at the Pala Gianni Asti in Turin, then the Chieri women exult 15-13 in the decisive golden set. In more than two hours of high-intensity play, Galatasaray, if there was ever any doubt about it, confirmed that it’s a real team. So did Chieri, which after winning 25-22 in the first set lost 20-25 in the second, always chasing, 23-25 in the third where it came back from 16-21 to 23-24 but missed the breakthrough, and 25-27 in the fourth after cancelling four match balls. The happy ending came in a hard-fought point-to-point golden set that the biancoblù made theirs by throwing their hearts over the obstacle (15-13).
As in so many other circumstances Chieri benefits from the decisive contribution of the players initially on the bench, from Zakchaiou to Guiducci, from Omoruyi to Anthouli. The MVP award is given to Buijs who is also the top scorer of the evening with 25 points, one more than Gicquel (24). Lazovic’s 21 points, Carutasu’s 19 and Aydin’s 16 stand out on the Turkish scoreboard. For Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 è the third final in the European cups after those already played and both won in 2022/2023 in the CEV Challenge Cup and 2023/2024 in the CEV Cup. Therefore, the biancoblù will have the opportunity to try to hit the encore in Challenge after the March 22, 2023 triumph in Timisoara. The first and return finals will be played in the first two weeks of March. Tomorrow Chieri will know if its opponent will be Rome or Postdam. Click here for the report and postgame statements.
Full victory for Igor Gorgonzola Novara against Maritza Plovdiv. In Bulgaria, the Azzurri triumphed 0-3, replicating the round success of the first leg and thus qualifying for the CEV Cup semifinals. Partials closed at 19, 21 and 14 for the Piedmontese, with again Mims great protagonist: 16 points for the American opposing player, with 4 aces. For Lorenzo Bernardi’s girls, the next appointment will be in March, against the winner of the quarterfinal between THY Istanbul and Bielsko-Biala (first leg won 3-1 by the Poles, return scheduled on Thursday in Istanbul) with first leg in Italy between March 4 and 6 and return the following week away. Click here for the report and coach Bernardi’s commentary.
