The second day of the 2021 CEV Champions League Volley Pool D tournament in Istanbul has resulted in a 3-0 win for Tigers against Lokomotiv Kaliningrad.
In the first set, a 4-0 winning streak came at the beginning when the young setter Elif Şahin was at the service line. Elif’s balanced setting was one of the keys in winning the first set consistently. Tijana Boskovic, Saliha Şahin and Chiaka Ogbogu scored 6, 5 and 4 points, respectively.
In the first set, the team scored as many as 4 aces, pushing well in serving as Elif Şahin, Saliha Şahin, Chiaka Ogbogu and Jordan Thompson scored an ace each.
Tigers had another winning streak at the beginning of the second set which lasted until 4-0. Showing great defensive efforts the team has managed to take the lead by 25-17. Especially, Hande Baladın who was substituted with Saliha Şahin for the last few points of the set made some great digs.
Despite that Lokomotiv Kaliningrad came out stronger in the third set, Tigers managed to come back through a collective performance over the net. Chiaka Ogbogu did the finishing touch as Tigers won the final set by 25-22 and collected their second win in Pool D.
On the last day of the tournament tomorrow at 17.00, Allianz MTV Stuttgart and Lokomotiv Kaliningrad will face each other. Both teams have a 1-1 win-loss record in the tournament so far.
The hosting team Eczacıbaşı VitrA will face the Russian powerhouse Dinamo Moscow at 20.00 local time. Dinamo Moscow had their first loss today against Allianz MTV Stuttgart.
Post-Match Interviews
Marco Motta: “As I have said before we don’t have time to practice. But match by match we play better. We are turning back to our normal level. Today we played a good match, especially in block and defense we played better than yesterday. And I hope that tomorrow we can perform like that again.”
Chiaka Ogbogu: "We talked a little bit about celebrating for 10 minutes. And then we were on to the next game, making sure that we were preparing mentally. Because it is tough to play three days in a row but we will be ready.”
Elif Şahin: “After the five-set match that we have played yesterday, it has a huge meaning for us to collect another win again. Our goal is to continue our road without any losses. To achieve that we will keep the same focus level also against Dinamo Moscow.”
Lokomotiv Kaliningrad – Eczacıbaşı VitrA: 0-3
Venue: Burhan Felek Vestel Volleyball Hall
Referees: Eldar Zulfugarov (AZE), Agnieszka Michlic (POL)
Lokomotiv Kaliningrad: Ryseva, Voronkova, Evdokimova, Vorobyeva, Kurilo, Podskalnaia, Gorbacheva (L), Ezhak, Galkina, Stalnaya, Zaytseva.
Eczacıbaşı VitrA: Elif, Thompson, Ogbogu, Boskovic, Saliha, Beyza, Simge (L), Hande, Mirkovic.
Set Results: 0-3 (17-25, 22-25, 22-25)
Duration: 78 minutes (21,28,29)
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