In a hard-fought first set, the MTV women quickly took a 2-0 lead, but at first it didn’t turn out to be a really comfortable lead. Zagreb kept hitting back and was able to shorten the lead to 1:2, 2:3 and 3:5. Although the women from Stuttgart stayed in front with two or three points for long stretches, Zagreb kept the connection. Nevertheless – the volleyball players of MTV Stuttgart continuously expanded their lead and soon led by 10:5.
But the Croatians didn’t give up. After a timeout, Zagreb started to catch up, quickly equalized 10:10 and shortly afterwards even turned the game to 11:10 from the hosts’ point of view. A lead that did not have a long half-life: the Stuttgart women shook themselves briefly and quickly found their way back to their old sovereignty.
MTV with a clear set win
After the longest rally of the first set, Juliet Lohuis restored the five-point lead with 21:16. Crystal Rivers completed the first set with a chip ball to win Stuttgart 25:18.
The picture in the second set was similar to that in the first round: both teams played at a high level and didn’t let their opponent pull away. While luck was more on the side of the women from Stuttgart in the first set, the tide gradually turned. Zagreb took a narrow two-point lead and held it for long stretches of the second set. With the score at 19:21 from Stuttgart’s point of view, Maria Segura Pallerés had the great opportunity to bring her team back to a point after a spectacular save by the Croatians. But her ball went wide. Shortly thereafter, Zagreb converted their own set ball to 25:21 – 1:1 after sets.
Clear announcement for the fourth set
In the third set, too, none of the teams was able to break away, but towards the middle of the round the MTV volleyball team gained an increasing lead, which resulted in a sovereign 25:15 set win after 23 minutes – a clear announcement for set number four .
The fourth set, however, looked like a clear thing for MTV Stuttgart for a long time, before Zagreb shortened again to 21:23 shortly before the end. The Stuttgart team didn’t let that bother them, however, and ended up winning the set 25:22 – equivalent to a 3:1 win in the first leg of the semifinals.
With the 3:1 victory, MTV has earned a good starting position for the fight for entry into the final. The second leg between MTV Stuttgart and HAOK Mladost Zagreb will take place on Tuesday (03/01/2022) in Stuttgart.
Source: SWR