Volleyball: Champions League, Novara starts with a victory over Potsdam

First appointment of the women’s Champions League which completes the first day tomorrow with Conegliano-Budapest and Vero Volley with Dnipro. Paola Egonu’s Vakif starts at home with Red Star Belgrade.

Novara 3-1 Potsdam (25-15, 25-17, 24-26, 25-19) The path of Igor Novara in the Champions League begins with a success, perhaps more suffered than one might have expected. Chirichella and her teammates dominate for two sets, then, as has already happened other times in the season, they complicate their lives by wasting two match balls in the third set, before closing in the fourth. Karakurt with his 32 points is the MVP of the match, but in the final three blocks by Danesi are decisive to get the Azzurri out of trouble. Lavarini has to give up American playmaker Poulter (kok knee and season over for her) and still has Adams on the bench only with the second free jersey. You therefore trust Ilaria Battistoni in direction, to compose the diagonal with Karakurt, Carcaces and Bosetti by hand, Chirichella and Danesi in the center, with Fersino liberio. Potsdam, unbeaten leaders of the German championship, line up with the diagonal Van Allen-Nemeth, Jasper and Emonts from hand, Cekulaev and Savic in the center, with the free Jegdic. The start of the match belongs entirely to Igor, who climbs up to 6-2 and leads again to 10-6 (ace Chirichella), with Battistoni trying to involve all his forwards. Novara pushes well with her serve and is also felt against the block, again with the captain and Karakurt (7 points in the set, with 2 blocks) extending until 17-9 (guest time out). The finale is downhill, with Bosetti and Carcaces (6 in the partial) who put a comfortable 25-15 in the safe. The second set opens with much more balance, despite the constant difficulties of the Germans in service (5-5). Novara creates the break with a couple of blocking points and plays by Bosetti and Karakurt, which provide a 4-0 break that is worth 11-6. Igor controls extending again on 17-8, she allows herself an empty pass that allows the guests to reappear on minus 5, before bringing the last shoulder to the set with the usual Chirichella and Karakurt (already at 19), before close with Danesi’s first half for 25-17.

Reopening

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Potsdam’s hopes of calling into question the match seem to take shape at the beginning of the third set. Novara, which introduced Bonifacio for Chirichella, messed up a bit too much in the reconstruction phase and went down on 7-9. It’s head-to-head until 14 all, when a blaze from Karakurt seems to direct the partial in the right direction for the Azzurri. But the ending is unexpected: Novara wastes two match balls on 24-22 and then delivers the set to the opponents, cashing in an unexpected 4-0 run. We have to wait a bit for a reaction from Igor, because Carcaces seems to have finished his autonomy some time ago, Karakurt is starting to make mistakes. The turning point then comes from Danesi, who finds three walls of him that extinguish the ambitions of a Potsdam who lacks the experience to maintain himself at certain levels and who finds himself in an amen minus 7 (16-9). Novara, albeit with some uncertainty too many, maintains the advantage and closes 25-19. (Andrea Crippa)