The Azerbaijani champions Rabita beat the Italian champions Scavolini Pesaro in four sets (25:19, 25:23, 23:25, 25:21) in Baku on Thursday afternoon to secure the spot at the top of the Champions League Pool E.
Leading the scoring for Rabita were Natalya Mammadova, who is also celebrating her birthday today, and Sanja Starovic with 18 points each. Olga Ativi chipped in 14. Meanwhile, Manon Flier posted 24 for Scavolini.
Rabita came out roaring in the first set with Starovic-Mammadova duo helping the team go out in front at 8:3. Scavolini tried to fight back, but Rabita extended their lead even further, going up 16:10 and then 25:19.
Rabita quickly went 7:2 ahead at the start of the second set, but a determined Italian team hung tight and soon it was Scavolini that was up 9:7. Azerbaijani champions responded with Starovic pushing her team 11:10 ahead. A smart tip over the net by Ativi put Rabita up by five points at 23:18 and Starovic closed out the set 25:23 with a powerful spike.
In the third set Rabita held a two-point advantage by the time of the second timeout, 16:14. Scavolini responded with a flurry of spikes to go up 21:20. From there, it went back and forth until Scavolini finally seized the set on a quick spike by Manon Flier, 25:23.
The fourth set was all Scavolini early on as Flier and Laura Saccomani put their team up 9:3, but Rabita clawed back to tie it at 10:10 with an outstanding defensive effort from Kim Glass. By the second technical timeout, Rabita had taken a three point lead - 16:13. Despite Scavolini's best efforts to turn the game around, the host team held on to the lead and ended the set and the match with a great block from Natasa Krsmanovic for the 25:21 win.
Paolo Tofoli, Scavolini Head Coach
"Rabita is a great team with many international stars like Mammadova, Starovic, Glass and they did their best to defeat us. We played without our star player Destinee Hooker. We also played very badly in reception which was the main reason of our loss. But our opponents showed some great volleyball. We want to get our revenge in the return match in Italy."
Martina Guiggi, Scavolini Team Captain
"We see how the Azerbaijani league keeps on improving. There are so many high level foreigners in the Azeri teams right now, which was not the case in the past. I think we could not read the attacks of Rabita, because they played different combinations, alternating high balls with lower and speedy sets. I just want to congratulate Rabita for this victory."
Natalya Mammadova, Rabita Baku Team Captain
"It was a very important match for us to believe in our chances. The Azerbaijani spectators are always great and support our teams in every match. I am happy that we could give this present to these wonderful spectators."
Rabita Baku - Scavolini Pesaro 3:1 (25:19, 25:23, 23:25, 25:21)
Rabita Baku: Nenova 2, Delic, Krsmanovic 11, Ativi 14, Popovic (L), Mammadova 18, Glass 4, Golubovic 12, Starovic 18, Zhukova
Scavolini Pesaro: Usic Jogunica 13, Olivotto, De Gennaro (L), Saccomani 10, Manzano 12, Ferretti 2, Flier 24, Guiggi 11.
Notes: Set duration: 25min, 24min, 26min, 26min (total: 101min). Service errors: Rabita Baku 8, Scavolini 5 Aces: Rabita Baku 8, Scavolini 8
In the other match in the group, Polish Aluprof Bielsko-Biala defeated Romanian Dinamo Romprest in the highly contested match, 3:2 (24:26, 25:19, 34:36, 25:16, 15:7)
