Azerrail Baku loses to Rabita but becomes a champion of "Baku Volley Cup". Mammadova is " MVP"!!!

"Baku Volley Cup" International clubs tournament came to the end with the match Azerrail Baku- Rabita Baku.

In the first match of the last day Uralochka Yekaterinburg defeated Turkish Galatasaray in four sets. 3-1 (22-25: 25-19: 22-25: 20-25)
In the second match Russian Champion Zarechie-Odintsovo faced Lokomotiv Baku and crushed the opponents in three straight sets. 3-0 (25-21 25-21 25-17)
At last in the third and final match of the tournament two strong teams Azerrail Baku and Rabita Baku met in principal match. The result would not change the name of the champion,but would clarify the silver medalist of the tournament.
Rabita started match with strong attacks of the captain Mammadova and American outside-hitter Kimberly Glass. Azerrail answered with strong spikes of young shining star Polina Rahimova. But Rabita was very good at blocks and attacks and won the match easily in three sets.
At the closing ceremony Azerrail Baku`s captain Natalia Hanikoglu and her team were awarded with the trophy for Champions of "Baku Volley Tournament". Different players from different team were awarded with Individual prizes.


MVP (Most Valuable Player): Natalya Mammadova (Rabita Baku)
Best Scorer: Natalya Mammadova (Rabita Baku)
Best Spiker: Oksana Kovalchyk (Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
Best Setter: Angela McGinnis (Azerrail Baku)
Best Server: Polina Rahimova (Azerrail Baku)
Best Libero: Valeriya Korotenko (Azerrail Baku)

Note: Polina Rahimova deserved at least the "MVP" of the tournament,because she played the greatest role for her team`s being champion. Polina Rahimova was also the "Best Blocker", "Best Server" and the second "Best Scorer" of the tournament.

Azerrail defeats Uralochka and wins the trophy.

Outside hitter Polina Rahimova recorded 20 kills to lead Azerrail past Russian Uralochka, 3-1, on Friday afternoon on the fifth day of the volleyball tournament in Baku.

Uralochka won the first set 25:20 while Azerrail evened the match by taking the second set, 25:20. The host team then held on for a 25:19 victory in the third set before earning the win with a 25:19 fourth set.

Meanwhile, Lokomotiv won the opening set against Rabita, 25:23, but Azerbaijani champions won the next three sets 26:24, 25:20 and 25-11 to defeat Baku rivals, 3-1.

Galatasaray - Zarechie-Odintsovo 1:3 (23:25, 25:20, 18:25, 22:25)
Azerrail - Uralochka 3:1 (20:25, 25:20, 25:19, 25:19)
Rabita - Lokomotiv 3:1 (25:23, 24:26,20:25, 11:25)

Polina Rahimova was the Best Scorer and MVP of the day.

International "Baku Volley Cup" tournament: detailed game statistics

To view game statistics and complete box score, click on the game score.

We would like to thank Artem Borisenko for his tremendous work and help.

Day 1. November 2, 2010

Lokomotiv - Uralochka (Russia) 1:3 (25:23, 20:25, 12:25, 20:25)
Azerrail - Galatasaray (Turkey) 3:0 (25:11, 25:18, 25:21)
Rabita - Zarechie-Odintsovo (Russia) 3:1 (25:20, 25:21, 25:27; 25:21)

Day 2. November 3, 2010

Azerrail - Zarechie-Odintsovo 3:0 (27:25, 25:17, 26:24)
Rabita - Uralochka 2:3 (28:30; 25:23, 25:16, 19:25, 16:18)
Lokomotiv - Galatasaray 3:0 (25:20, 25:16, 25:11)

Day 3. November 4, 2010

Azerrail - Lokomotiv 3:0 (25:21, 25:15, 27:25)
Rabita - Galatasaray 3:1 (26:28, 25:17, 25:22, 25:19)
Uralochka - Zarechie-Odintsovo 3:0 (25:23, 25:20, 25:17)

Kathleen Weiss: When I heard that many of my friends had chosen Azerbaijan,I decided to follow them.

German setter of Igtisadchi Baku team, Kathleen Weiss who takes part in the World Championship in Japan,shared her thoughts about her choice with azerisport.com.
"I would like to stay in Italy for one more season,but the conditions were very important for me. Then I had an offer from Azerbaijan. When I heard that many of my friends had chosen Azerbaijan,I decided to follow them."
Kathleen Weiss played last season in one of Italian Grands-Despar Perugia. Her teammate was Riikka Lehtonen who also chose Igtisadchi Baku.

Azerrail sweeps Lokomotiv, Rabita defeats Galatasaray

The third day of "Baku Volley Cup"

Azerbaijani international Polina Rahimova had a match-high 19 kills and former Turkish international Natalia Hanikoglu added 11 kills, as Azerrail rallied to knock off Lokomotiv in three sets on Thursday at the international volleyball tournament in Baku. Set scores were 25:21, 25:15, 27:25. American duo Kristin Richards and Julie Rubenstein were the best players for Lokomotiv, scoring 11 points each.

Meanwhile, Rabita dropped the opening set against Galatasaray, but came back and won next three sets to post a 3:1 (26:28, 25:17, 25:22, 25:19) victory.

In the final match of the day, Uralochka defeated Zarechie 3:0 (25:23, 25:20, 25:17).

Azerrail - Lokomotiv 3:0 (25:21, 25:15, 27:25)
Rabita - Galatasaray 3:1 (26:28, 25:17, 25:22, 25:19)
Uralochka - Zarechie-Odintsovo 3:0 (25:23, 25:20, 25:17)

Tomorrow, November 5th, is a rest day for the teams.





Note: Thanks to Artem Borisenko for statistics and azerisport.com for pics.

Statistics: Lokomotiv Baku 3- 0 Galatasaray Medical Park. Kseniya Kovalenko is unstoppable.

The last match of the seocnd day was played between local Lokomotiv Baku and Turkish Galatasaray Medical Park.
Lokomotiv Baku`s Azeri National team player,middle-blocker Kseniya Kovalenko played with 11 points and 75% effiency in attacks and the USA national team outside-hitter Kristin Richards was the Best Scorer with 20 points in this match.

One more time thanks to Artem Borisenko for statistics.

Statistics Rabita-Uralochka. Mammadova`s 33 points did not help the team.

Here` s the statistics of the match Uralochka Yekaterinburg-Rabita Baku from the second match day of "Baku Volley Cup".
The team captain and star of Azeri National team Natalya Mammadova was the Best Scorer of the match with 33 points and 55% effiency on attack. But that was not enough for Rabita Baku to defeat Uralochka who also played great with Belorussian opposite-hitter Oksana Kovalchyk (26 points and 56%) and Bulgarian middle-blocker Strashimira Filipova ( 26 points and 57%).
Another scorer in Rabita was Olga Tocko Ativi who scored 19 points with 41% effiency.
We are very grateful to Rabita`s Statistic Artem Borisenko for his help.

Lokomotiv outclassed Galatasaray Medical Park in three sets.

Last year`s Finalist Lokomotiv Baku faced Turkish Galatasaray Medical Park in the third match of the second day of "Baku Volley Cup" .
Lokomotiv Baku started playing very fast with attacks of central player Kseniya Kovalenko and American outside-hitter Kristin Richards powerful spikes. The first set ended 25-20.
In the second set Lokomotiv played not good at reception and was very close to lose the set,but after 19-23 Lokomotiv scored 6 points in a row at the final step of the set and took it to 2-0 in match.
The third with a brillance performance of Yelena Parkhomenko and Julie Rubenstein Lokomotiv easily closed the set 25- 11 and won the match 3-0.
On Azeri side Kseniya Kovalenko was the best. Vesna Citakovic was the best in Turkish team.