'Azeryol' cruise to home win to get right edge in fight for CEV Cup semi-final spot

Baku. 12 February. REPORT.AZ/ 'Azeryol' got a step closer to qualifying for the semis of the 2016 CEV Volleyball Cup – Women following their 3-1 home win (25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17) over Italy’s Igor Gorgonzola Novara, according to the website of the European Volleyball Confederation. The re-match will now follow in two weeks in Italy and determine which team makes it to the penultimate stage of Europe’s second most prestigious club competition, Report informs.

The first set was a close affair with 'Azeryol' claiming an 8-6 lead at the first technical time-out as both teams seemed to struggle with their blocking system. However, the Italians did not show enough quality also in reception and as a result the first set ended in a fairly compelling 25-19 win for Azeryol.

The second set followed a similar plot with 'Azeryol' being even more dominant this time around as the hosts cruised to a 25-17 win to further cement their leadership in the match.

However, the course of the game changed in the third set where NOVARA showed a far better performance than in the previous stages of the match. They fought for this set with everything they had and they eventually took it home by 25-23.

The fourth set was fairly one-sided and following their 25-17 win, 'Azeryol' could celebrate a well-deserved 3-1 home victory. Anna Stepaniuk paced 'Azeryol' with 20 points as setter Mareen Apitz did well also from the service line and Yelena Parkhomenko stood out at blocking.