CHALLENGE CUP - Panathinaikos and Jesi will battle for the crown

Vini Monteschiavo JESI of Italy and Panathinaikos ATHENS of Greece will be battling tomorrow to clinch the trophy of the 2008/09 Women’s GM Capital Challenge Cup. The Italians, after a difficult start, defeated 3:1 an imposing Russian team, i.e. Leningradka ST-PETERSBURG, featuring many stars and members of the local national team. As for ATHENS, the Greeks totally demolished Spain’s CV ALBACETE in straight sets and will be trying to stop the run of the local heroines in the final match scheduled for tomorrow at 15.30.


Results
Leningradka ST-PETERSBURG (RUS) vs. Vini Monteschiavo JESI (ITA) 1:3 (25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 25-27)
CV ALBACETE (ESP) vs. Panathinaikos ATHENS (GRE) 0:3 (15-25, 21-25, 20-25)


In the first semifinal of the Final Four, the home team of Vini Monteschiavo JESI defeats Leningradka ST-PETERSBURG of Russia 3:1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 27-25). The Russian coach Kashin lined up Akulova as setter, former Olympic champion and Cuban star Fernandez as opposite, Dutchwoman Visser and Alimova as middle blockers, Yagodina and Andrushko as spikers. Kupchinskaya is the libero of the Russian team. Local coach Nesic starts the match with Ognjenovic as setter, Flier opposite, Rinieri and Negrini spikers, plus Calloni and Bown lined up as middle blockers. The local heroines suffered some pressure at the beginning of the match against such a tough opponent. Leningradka scores 8 blocks in the first set with Andrushko contributing with 9 points to the score count. The Russians led the way 16:13 at the second technical break, but JESI managed to bounce back and to tie at 21. Captain Visser and her mates were much more aggressive in the final rallies and scored the set at 25-22. In the second set, there was a hard battle for every single rally but after having leveled at 21, this time JESI stayed much focused and the game was over thanks to a spike of Fernandez which fell well off the court. Rinieri and Flier stood out in this section of the match, scoring 5 points each. In the third set, the Russians started out very confident for a provisional 16:13. At that point, JESI improved its performance in reception (with a 49% of efficiency compared to a mere 29% for Leningradka) and after Slovenian Lipicer had replaced Negrini, the Italians sped up and sailed to 22:17. The Russians reduced a little bit the gap (23:20) but once again Rinieri and Flier closed out the set. In the fourth set, Lipicer and Bown played a key role in seizing the match. As the score stood at 23:23, Flier secured a first match ball but the Italians did not silver it as a result of a serving error. With Flier pushing all her mates, Leningradka leveled again at 25 but the local girls closed the match benefiting of a couple of errors for the delight of the local audience.
Russian coach Kashin commented after the match: “Our team played well in the first set, but
unfortunately at the end of the second and third sets we were not aggressive enough. Our blocks were good, but JESI played more consistently on offense and we just weren't able to score the points we needed. Congratulations to JESI and I wish them good luck for tomorrow.”
Local coach Dragan Nesic added: “I am very, very happy with the result of today's match and I'm particularly pleased that we played so well against such a great opponent. The match was very difficult and I feel especially proud to have brought home such a victory because the Russians came here to win the Cup”.

Panathinaikos walked through the second semifinal without facing too many troubles. The Greeks totally dominated the match from the beginning up to the end. Panathinaikos closed the first set with a 58% of efficiency in attack (compared with the 25% of the Spaniards), with ALBACETE being quite consistent in reception but not so much effective with the spikers. The second set was more balanced. The Spaniards profited of a good performance for Brit Janine Sandell (with 7 points) but Panathinaikos was more solid in the last and decisive rallies. In the third set the Spaniards struggled up to 19:20 with Pazo and Sandell performing quite well, but the Greeks finally seized the match thanks to their attacks and also by avoiding hampering unforced errors. Mr. Floros, head coach of Panathinaikos, commented: “With our blocks and a good reception we scored the decisive rallies and that led us to the victory. We were not brilliant but we basically were seeking for a spot into the final match and we definitely accomplished that goal”. His colleague Rodriguez added: “We made too many mistakes, both in defense and in attack. We did not perform at our best. Not at all. Anyway, the Greeks fully deserved to score this victory”.

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