In the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League, the Stuttgart volleyball team suffered a home defeat against the Italian world-class team Novara.
Without hers Head coach Tore Alexandersen, who could not be there due to illness, the Stuttgart volleyball team lost 1:3 (25:21, 16:25, 21:25, 23:25) in front of their home crowd in the SCHARRena on Tuesday evening. Thus, the outsider from Stuttgart missed a better starting position for the second leg.
Künzler decides the first set for Stuttgart
At the beginning of the game the team from Italy his favorite role just. The Stuttgart block came into play with difficulty and so Novara quickly pulled away 8:4. Stuttgart took the first break, which did not upset the Italians. They initially held their lead. However, MTV came back and took the lead for the first time at 18:17. Novara took two time-outs in quick succession, but the women from Stuttgart continued to play with concentration and extended their lead. Outside attacker Laura Künzler converted the first set ball to 25:21 for Stuttgart.
Allianz MTV Stuttgart loses the thread
The second set also got off to a good start for the women from Stuttgart. They repeatedly overcame the Italian block with courageous attacks. However, Novara did not shake off and was 6: 5 ahead for the first time in the second set. Stuttgart lost their rhythm a bit, while Novara became more and more confident and was able to pull away with seven points. MTV top attacker Krystal Rivers didn’t get through the Italian block at all in this phase and her teammates also made mistakes. The second set finally went clearly to Novara at 25:16.
The third set began with an ace by Britt Bongaerts for the leaders of the volleyball league. Novara was undeterred and made points in attack while MTV’s attempts initially ended up in Italy’s defence. But Stuttgart worked its way back into the sentence. Krystal Rivers was able to equalize with a great attack to make it 13:13 and team colleague Simone Lee brought the Swabians into the lead for the first time with a directly converted ace. The Italians didn’t give up, turned the set back in their direction and converted their first set ball to win the set 2-1.
Stuttgart misses a better starting position
The fourth set started better for the hosts. Captain Maria Segura Palleres marked the interim 7:4. A few slight errors on the Stuttgart side brought the guests back into the game. Neither team was able to pull away decisively. In the crunch time of the sentence, however, Novara was there again and immediately exploited every MTV inaccuracy. Five points in a row went to the Italians. Although the Stuttgart team came within one point, Novara converted the second match point to 25:23 and a 3:1 victory after sets.
Despite the defeat, Stuttgart can still reach the semi-finals, albeit with difficulty. The second leg takes place on Wednesday, March 22nd. (8 p.m.), in Italy.
