Rabita sweeps Dinamo Romprest

Rabita Baku advanced to the playoff round of the 2010-11 CEV Champions League with a 3:0 (25:18, 25:16, 25:14) victory over Romanian Dinamo Romprest on Thursday afternoon. Azerbaijani champions topped Pool E with 14 points, while Italian champions Scavolini Pesaro finished second with 12 points.

Sanja Starovic and Kim Glass led Rabita with 17 and 13 points, respectively. Mira Golubovic added 11 points and had match-high three blocks.

Rabita jumped out to a 9:2 lead to start the match and kept Dinamo at bay going 16:10 by the time of the second technical timeout. After the timeout, Romanians managed to up their offensive effort, cutting Rabita's lead to three, 21:18. Rabita retaliated immediately with five back-to-back points, taking the first set, 25:18.

Rabita grabbed a 5:2 lead in the second set and held onto a three-point lead until a 4:0 Rabita run put hosts up by seven, 16:9. The two teams went back and forth with Rabita maintaining at least a five-point advantage. With a 20:15 lead, Starovic started a 5:1 run to close out the set for a 25:16 victory.

Set three started out close with Romanian team hanging tight only two points behind, 10:8, before Rabita, fueled by powerful serves from Natasa Krsmanovic went on a 9:1 run for a decisive 19:9 advantage. Down 23:13, Marcovici put away one final kill for Dinamo before Glass and Starovic closed out the match for Rabita, 25:14.

Dejan Brdjovic, Rabita head coach

"It was a very important match for us and we are very happy with the result. We have several injured players - Natalya Mammadova played with a shoulder injury last week in Pesaro and tonight, and also Olga Ativi is still recovering."

Atanas Petrov, Dinamo head coach

"Rabita is a very strong team and they have improved a lot. I wish them good luck in the next stages of the competition."

Rabita Baku will learn its playoff opponent on Friday, February 14. The line-up for the playoffs includes: VakifGunes, Fenerbahce Acibadem, Eczacibasi (all Turkey), Scavolini Pesaro, Villa Cortese (both Italy), Bank BPS Fakro, Aluprof (both Poland), RC Cannes (France), Dinamo Moscow (Russia), Volero Zurich (Switzerland) and VK Modranska (Czech Republic). Meanwhile, Russian Zarechie Odintsovo is likely to replace the organizer of the final four in the playoff grid.

Rabita Baku - Dinamo Romprest Bucharest 3:0 (25:18, 25:16, 25:14)

Rabita Baku: Doganjic 2, Krsmanovic 10, Popovic (L), Mammadova 6, Glass 13, Golubovic 11, Starovic 17, Zhukova 2

Dinamo Romprest: Hatinova 8, Hincu 3, Marcovici 9, Minca, Vesovic 7, Smarandache, Radu 5, Gligorovic 2

Notes: Set duration: 22min, 21min, 20min (total: 63min)
Service errors: Rabita Baku 7, Dinamo Romprest 4
Aces: Rabita Baku 11, Dinamo Romprest 1