Vero Volleyball Milan triumphs in Athens as well: stellar Paola Egonu

Full score for Numia Vero Volleyball Milan in Athens: on the court of the Olympiacos Piraeus it ends 1-3 (27-25; 17-25; 17-25; 14-25) for Egonu and her teammates. Fourth success out of five outings in the CEV Champions League for Milan, which keeps the top of Pool C ahead of Eczacibasi Istanbul, engaged tomorrow in Serbia on the court of Lajkovac. Coach Lavarini’s girls, deprived of setter Emma Cagnin due to a form of flu, were able to react in the best possible way after an uphill start and a first partial that escaped in the advantages.

Martino Davidi

Starting in the second set, Numia imposed an unsustainable pace of play for the opponents. The MVP of the match was an unstoppable Paola Egonu, scorer of 32 points with 65% in attack. Also excellent were the performances of libero Eleonora Fersino – always present in defense and reception (72% positivity) – and Anna Danesi, who scored 14 points and an impressive 8 walls. Vero Volleyball gets right back to work: on Sunday at 5 p.m. the meneghine will be engaged on the court of Il Bisonte Firenze. Appointment for next Wednesday, instead, for the challenge at the Allianz Cloud against the Eczacibasi Istanbul, decisive for the direct qualification to the Champions League Quarterfinals.

Olympiacos got off to a strong start (6-3), but Milan – with shots by Egonu and Lanier – first patched up, and then tied with Pietrini’s mani-out (10-10). The Greeks push on the serve and find, with a positive Carcaces, the break that forces Lavarini to the first timeout of the match (15-13). Numia stays in the wake, and with Egonu takes the lead again (22-23). Olympiacos cancels two set balls, takes the lead with Kubura and closes the partial 27-25.

In the second set after Olympiacos’ first breakaway (8-5), Vero Volley set the wall-defense phase in motion, won five consecutive points on Kurtagic’s serve (8-10 with two aces for the Serbian center) and found the 10-15 lead with Pietrini. The set continued without any surprises: Milan stretched further in the final and won the partial match (17-25), thus equalizing the set count.

Compelling start of the third set for coach Lavarini’s girls: Danesi’s ace signs the 3-7 and Kovacevic calls suspension. Egonu takes the lead, putting down three consecutive attacks and bringing Numia to 10-15. Milan finds more and more rhythm, manages the Greeks’ attempts to react and also easily closes the third set with a score of 17-25.

At the beginning of the fourth set, a change in direction for Olympiacos, with Iliopoulou replacing Di Iulio. The Greeks responded to Vero Volleyball’s early lead and took a 7-5 lead with Coneo’s attack. Break and counter break phase in the first part of the set, but Milan manages to break the balance with Danesi’s monster block (the third in the set on her part) and yet another Egonu attack (13-16). The final is a solo of the meneghine, who return to impose their rhythm and win set and match: 14-25 and 1-3.