Azeri Play Off Starts on 11st March.

The first Play Off matches of Azeri Super League start on the 11st March by the match Lokomotiv - VC BAKI.
The match will start at 16:00. Two hours later Azerrail will test the outsider of the league, young girls of SHIRVAN.

11 March 16:00
Lokomotiv - VC BAKI

11 March 18:00
Azerrail - VC SHIRVAN

Mamma Mia: MAMMADOVA !!!

Great news for Volley Lovers: "İdman Azərbaycan TV" is ONLINE!!!

Super news for Volleyball lovers!!! The first SPorts TV channel "Idman Azerbaycan TV" which broadcasts all the matches of the Azeri Super League is ONLINE now!!!
With the link below all the followers of Azeri Super league and our citizens abroad can watch upcoming matches of the Quarter Finals and Final Four Round LIVE on "Idman Azerbaycan TV"

LINK: http://www.yildiz.tv/?act=dvr&chan=idmanaz

Istanbul is waiting for Rabita BAKU!!!

Rabita Baku is the Champion of the Regular Season!!!

Rabita Baku after the defeat over Shirvan finished the regular season of the Azeri Super league as a champion and qualified to the Final Four round with Igtisadchi which outclassed Azerrail Baku in five-thriller match for the second place.
The third ranked Azerrail will meet Shirvan and the fourth Lokomotiv will test BAKI in the quarterfinal matches which will be played till two victories. After these matches two winners will join Rabita and Igtisadchi in the Final Four of three rounds where all the teams will play against one another. After three Final Four rounds the first ranked team will become the Champion of the Azerbaijani Super league season 2010/11.
All the three rounds will be staged in three different cities of Azerbaijan.

“Şirvan” - “Rabitə” - 0:3 (17:25, 14:25, 9:25)
MVP: Silvija Popovic
First match: “Rabitə” - “Şirvan” - 3:0 (25:13, 25:17; 25:16)
“Bakı” - “Lokomotiv” - 1:3 (13:25, 25:22, 24:26, 24:26)
MVP: Kseniya Kovalenko-Poznyak
First match: “Lokomotiv” – “Bakı” - 3:1 (25:20, 20:25, 25:18, 31:29 )

“Azərreyl” - “İqtisadçı” - 2:3 (23:25, 25:17, 27:25, 18:25, 12:15)
MVP: Tayyiba Haneef-Park
First match: “İqtisadçı” - “Azərreyl” - 2:3 (25:27, 14:25, 25:22, 26:24, 12:15)

1	Rabitə	10	8	2	26-8	18
2	İqtisadçı	10	8	2	26-10	18
3	Azərreyl	10	7	3	24-11	17
4	Lokomotiv	10	4	6	15-22	14
5	Bakı	10	2	8	9-24	12
6	Şirvan	10	1	9	4-29	11

Rabita Baku is in the Final Four of the Champions League!

Rabita BAKU (AZE) vs. Bank BPS Fakro MUSZYNA (POL) 3:0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19)

Azerbaijan’s Rabita BAKU claimed a ticket for the final four coming up next March 19-20 in Istanbul after edging out, for the second time in about 7 days, Bank BPS Fakro MUSZYNA of Poland, once again in straight sets. A rookie in the CEV Champions League, going into the return round of the Playoffs 6, Rabita could boost a very impressive record, having lost only one match since the beginning of the season. Rabita started the game with some great attacks of Sanja Starovic and local heroine Natalya Mammadova who were well supported by the blocks stamped by Natasa Krsmanovic and Mira Golubovic (25-20). Rabita opted for veteran setter Iryna Zhukova in set 2 and once again Golubovic and Starovic helped Mammadova set the pace of the game going rapidly for the final 25-19. Set 3 was a bit more nervous, especially as Rabita did not want to miss the ticket for the final four and could hardly wait for the celebrations. Bank BPS Fakro played well with Aleksandra Jagielo and Kinga Kasprzak but the block of Rabita worked perfectly to avoid any additional risk.
Natalya Mammadova said after the game: “We are very happy that we qualified to the final four directly from our first participation in this competition. It is a great result. I want to thank our fans for their great support. We will do our best to pay them back with some more wins”. Coach Dejan Brdjovic: “Our team was simply great today and showed an amazing performance. We are very happy”. “Rabita played a superb game and I want to congratulate our opponents. I wish them the best and to claim the trophy in the final four” commented the mentor of Bank BPS, Bogdan Serwinski.



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Table of Honour!!! Unstoppable Azeri teams!

Three of the remaining four teams left in the GM Challenge Cup hail from the Azerbaijani Superleague. One final spot is guaranteed to be filled by an Azerbaijani team, as Lokomotiv will take on Igtisadchi.

Azerrail vs. Uralochka is the tie that will decide if an all-Azerbaijani final is possible.

In the second leg quarterfinal game, Azerrail defeated Finnish LP Viesti 3:0 (25:20, 25:20, 25:16) to advance to the next round.

The Finnish side had to play without its main offensive threat, Belgian Virginie De Carne, who missed the match due to family reasons. Nevertheless, the visitors put up a fight against strong Azerrail, but faded at the end.

Meanwhile, in Czech Republic, Igtisadchi dug itself into a hole early on, as the host team Kralovo Pole took the first two sets, 25:23, 25:19. Igtisadchi rallied to take the next two, 25:14, 25:22 and forced a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth set, Igtisadchi jumped to an early 8:4 lead on a kill by Ivana Milos and extended the lead to five, 10:5, on a kill from Riikka Lehtonen. Kralovo Pole responded with three back-to-back points to cut the deficit to 8:10, forcing Igtisadchi head coach Jan de Brandt call a timeout. Out of the break, a clever tip over from Kathleen Weiss and two kills from Tayyiba Haneef-Park gave Igtisadchi a 13:10 lead. A service ace from Milos put Baku team within one of a victory, 14:10 and an attack error from the host team gave Igtisadchi the ticket to the semifinal, 15:10.

Rabita Baku- it is your time now!!! INSHALLAH!!!

Lokomotiv BAKU barely avoids golden set in Schwerin

2011 GM Capital Challenge Cup - Women

Schwerin, Germany, March 1, 2011. Azerbaijan’s Lokomotiv BAKU qualified to the semis of the 2011 GM Capital Challenge Cup by backing up their home win from last week with a close 3:2 scored tonight in their return game against SCHWERINER SC of Germany (17-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 16-14). In the next round Lokomotiv may have a derby with the compatriots of Igtisadchi BAKU who scored a 3:0 win over Kralovo Pole BRNO in the first round of the 4th finals.
After losing 0:3 in Baku, the hosts wanted to display a very good performance tonight in front of their many fans – some 1,780 - and go for revenge to eventually play the golden set. The girls from BAKU – who lined-up Kamenova, Kovalenko, Parkhomenko, Richards, Metcalf and Keldibekova – struggled to find their rhythm and so the opening set was totally dominated by SCHWERINER SC. The second was very close, with the home side moving up to 8:7 by the first technical break before BAKU could edge out the opponents in a very tough final rush (23-25). Lokomotiv played a solid opening in set nr 3 (6:8) but SCHWERINER SC could draw to 10 all. With a very good efficiency from the serving line, the Germans moved up to 19:14 and even a time-out asked by the Azerbaijani coach could not avoid the final 25-16.
Supported by some 60 fans that had made it to the local arena, LOKOMOTIV stormed back in the fourth set (4:8) and played with great consistency for the provisional 11:17. After a hard fight, SCHWERINER SC could almost close the gap (20:21) and some more exciting rallies followed before BAKU claimed the 2:2 (23-25).
The tie-break started well for the hosts but BAKU went up as the teams changed sides (6:8) before a standing ovation helped SCHWERINER SC claim the 10 all. Lokomotiv stamped the provisional 10:13 but as the hosts came closer (12:13), their coach Dragutin Baltic asked for a break but SCHWERINER SC claimed the next point. Lokomotiv had then a first match ball but could close the game only a few rallies later (14-16).
“We made it to the next round and that is the most important thing for us” said Orkhan Huseynov, the team manager of Lokomotiv BAKU. Even though his team lost the game Tore Aleksandersen, coach of SCHWERINER SC, found fair words after the match: “We lost the match but it was a game at a very high level for both teams. And I just can compliment all our players and the audience”.

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