Glass meets her last team, Costagrande is back home in Pesaro and Parkhomenko misses because of injury!

The first round of the Playoffs 12 will come to a close tonight with the last set of matches. The major highlights shall be the clash starring Scavolini PESARO and Dinamo MOSCOW in the women’s division as well as the game coming up in the Czech Republic where VK Modranska PROSTEJOV will try to stop the so far marvelous run of Azerbaijan’s Rabita BAKU. The match scheduled for tonight in Pesaro will have some additional flavor as Argentinean-born spiker Carolina Costagrande is coming back to the city where she played for 5 years before moving to Russia’s capital city for the 2010/2011 season.

VK Modranska PROSTEJOV (CZE) vs. Rabita BAKU (AZE)

After defeating MC-Carnaghi VILLA CORTESE and winning in Cannes, the girls of VK Modranska PROSTEJOV want to cruise past another classy opponent, Rabita BAKU of Azerbaijan. “Rabita is very strong in attack, especially via Mammadova and Starovic. Mammadova is the absolute Volleyball star there in Azerbaijan, while Starovic is likely to turn into the very best Serbian attacker. Rabita has some more excellent players from Serbia, like for instance Mira Golubovic and Natasha Krsmanovic. We shall not forget to mention Ukrainian Iryna Zhukova, a very experienced setter with many caps in international competitions, including European and World Championships” says Czech coach Miroslav Cada. By watching the DVDs of the games so far played by Rabita BAKU, he realized that the team has been making some progresses: “At the end of the group stage Rabita BAKU was already playing excellent Volleyball. Their teamwork and their form in general were improving with each match, so it will be very difficult to beat this opponent. Actually anyone in this team is able to attack through a double block” adds Cada commenting on the enormous attacking skills of the Azerbaijani champions. “Rabita BAKU was defeated twice in the prelims, but these losses were very tight and happened after some close tie-breaks. And this is our chance. If our players win at home, regardless the score, they could be sure that when they fly to Azerbaijan to play the return match and they lose there, there will be always the chance to go for the golden set. Winning this golden set we could even advance to the Playoffs 6” he says.
“This opponent is a real top-ranked team and, as regards their results, they are supposed to be better than we are. However, if our girls play like they did against VILLA CORTESE at home or against RC CANNES in France, we have some chances” states Czech team manager Peter Goga. The head coach has a similar opinion. “We respect the strength of Rabita and we do not have any doubts about their top qualities. But this does not affect the fact we do wish to take BAKU by surprise. I am sure we can succeed in this mission” stresses Cada. If VK Modranska advances to the Playoffs 6, it will be the biggest success ever for the Czech team. On the other hand, by defeating one of the hottest candidates to win the 2011 CEV Champions League, the Czech girls would make their ex-teammate Kimberly Glass sad – this beautiful American player was actually part of the roster of PROSTEJOV last year.