It was a volleyball festival in the Scharrena in Stuttgart over five exciting sets: In the end, MTV Stuttgart achieved the sensation against Fenerbahce Istanbul.
The women of MTV Stuttgart won the first leg of the quarter-finals in the Volleyball Champions League against Fenerbahce Istanbul 3:2 (22:25, 26:24, 19:25, 25:20, 15:10). Coach Konstantin Bitter’s team kept up with Fenerbahce throughout and was even able to win the deciding set in the end.
“We believed in it because otherwise I don’t think we would have made it today,” said coach Bitter about the sensational victory. Fenerbahce was the “big favorite”. “We fought, we played well and we had good actions,” said Bitter, commenting on his team’s performance. The second leg will be difficult, but today he is “just proud”.
Stuttgart starts well – the first set is narrowly lost
In a great atmosphere, which was also contributed to by a loud block of fans with Fenerbahce supporters, the Stuttgart team took a 5-3 lead shortly after the start thanks to concerted attacks. As a result, the world class of the opposing top team was also evident: the Stuttgart defense was often unable to counter Arina Fedorovtseva’s attacking blows. The Russian scored nine points for her team in the first set, which Fenerbahce won 25:22. By the end of the game, they had 31 scoring points.
MTV equalizes – Fenerbahce unimpressed for the time being
The second set was also tight. Stuttgart could now pose challenges to the guests’ defense. Top player Crystal Rivers repeatedly played her powerful attacking shots past the Turkish block. Towards the end of the hard-fought round, Stuttgart took the lead 23:22 and ultimately won the second set 26:24. Anyone who thought that Fenerbahce would be unsettled by Stuttgart’s strong performance was initially disappointed. In the third set, the guests were able to break away for the first time and won 25:19.
In the fourth set, Stuttgart gave everything to avert the impending defeat. In the meantime it was 19:15 for the hosts. Stuttgart no longer gave up the lead in this round: When the score was 24:20, Eline Timmermann converted the first set ball for MTV to make it 2-2 after sets – it went into the deciding set.
MTV remains in Decision sentence the cooler team
In the fifth set, the spectators could no longer stay in their seats. Both teams did their utmost to win the game. And again it was the omnipresent Rivers who brought victory for Stuttgart within reach with her attacking strike to make it 10:8. The MTV was now playing itself into a frenzy. With the score at 14:10, Rivers was able to serve for the match. The counterattack was blocked by Timmermann – and Fenerbahce’s defense was left behind. The sensation in Stuttgart was perfect.
Thanks to the sensational victory against the guests from Istanbul, MTV Stuttgart now has the chance to celebrate reaching the semi-finals of the Volleyball Champions League. The prerequisite for this is an equally strong performance in the second leg. This will take place on February 28th in Istanbul (6:00 p.m.).
Broadcast on Wed, February 21, 2024 6:00 a.m., SWR Aktuell in the morning, SWR Aktuell
