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FIVB Heroines doing battle for CEV Champions League Title

Already ahead in Pool A is Vakifbank Istanbul. With a solid performance from FIVB Heroines Saori Kimura (JPN), who scored 7 points, and Jovana Brakocevic, with 6 points, the Turkish team made a great debut, beating Volero Zurich in straight sets 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-16).

In Pool C other two of our FIVB Heroines are looking forward to a face off this week. But in the first round, they both did their part to help their teams win. The Italian Simona Gioli added 10 points, including 3 blocks, to Galatasaray’s victory over ASPTT Mulhouse by 3-1 (18-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-23). While the German star Margareta Kozuch was one of the key players of Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio’s win against Dinamo Romprest Bucaresti, also by 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 14-25, 25-22). Margareta, who turned 26 years old yesterday, scored 16 points.

Three FIVB Heroines meet in Pool D, making it one of the toughest yet also most balanced ones. And they will battle till the very end of first phase to see who will advance to the playoffs. Last week, Dutch FIVB Heroine Manon Flier scored 10 points in her team’s (Azeri Azerrail Baku) victory over Dresdner SC by 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-17). This week the challange promises to be even bigger, as she faces fellow FIVB Heroine Neslihan Darnel and her team Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul. Darnel had one of the best individual performances in first round. With 21 points, she helped her teammates to return home with a major 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-21) win against fellow FIVB Heroine Joanna Kaczor’s Tauron MKS Dabrowa Gornicza. As with Gioli and Kozuch, this week’s Flier and Darnel reunion will be a real clash of the titans and one the fans are eagerly anticipating.

One of the biggest surprises of the first round was FIVB Heroine Ekaterina Gamova’s team Dinamo Kazan’s shock loss to Schweriner SC, going down 3-2 (21-25, 25-14, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13).  This was despite a terrific performance from Ekaterina with 25 points scored, including 2 aces and 3 blocks, But she promises to come back stronger than ever in the second round to put things back on track and win her first game in this season’s competition.

Stay tuned to FIVBheroes.com to find out how your favorite heroes will do in the coming rounds.

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