Sanja Starovic
Sanja Starovic led the winners with a match-high 20 points, including three blocks, followed by Foluke Akinradewo who finished with six blocks and 16 points. Dobriana Rabadzhieva had four aces among her 13 points while Angelina Hubner-Grun chipped in with 10.
Zhang Xiaoting and Chen Liyi topped Bohai Bank with 15 and 14 points respectively. Yi Na collected 12 points and Li Ying tallied 11 points.
Rabita Baku held a 14-8 margin in the blocking category and edged Bohai Bank 6-5 in the service winners charts.
Rabita Baku led 8-4 in the first set with combined effort from Rabadzhieva and Hubner-Grun. The club based in Azerbaijan increased to a five-point lead at 16-11 for the second TTO with some good attacks from Sanja Starovic while Zhang Xiaoting kept her side in competition. Akinradewo and Krsmanovic were very active for Rabita Baku in the late part of the opening set they won 25-20.
The defending champions continued to dominate the contest in the second set as they led 8-5 and 16-10 at the technical time-outs. While Chen Liyi and Li Ying were steadily producing for Bohai Bank, the performances of Rabadzhieva, Starovic and Akinradewo were by far superior. Block and ace by Zhang Xiaoping closed the score at 18-15 but Akinradewo attacked from the middle on a quick set. At 21-18, Rabadzhieva and Chen Liyi exhanged attacks and Chen Liyi attacked again to put Bohai Bank within two points. Starovic stepped in for Rabita and 23-20 and Zhang answered for the Chinese side. Akinradewo scored for set-point. Chen Liyi nailed one for the Chinese club but then netted her serve to close the set 25-22.
The third set was close since the start with Bohai Bank leading 8-7. Akinradewo’s blocking skills helped Rabita Baku to take a two-point lead at 12-10. Li Ying tied at 13-all and Zhang Xiaoting blocked for a Bohai Bank 14-13 advantage. The second TTO arrived with the Chinese side in front 16-13. Yin Na extended the gap to 20-15. Bohai Bank took the set 25-18.
Yin Na broke a tie at 5-all with a strong spike from the left side but Akinradewo got her team equalized again. Krsmanovic blocked for the one-point difference at the first TTO. Rabita Baku led 11-9 when Bohai Bank called for a time-out. Yin Na broke a tie at 15-all and continued to stay red-hot when play resumed after the TTO. Starovic evened up the score at 17-all. Akinradewo then served long but Starovic rose to the occasion to tie up at 18-18. With Rabita Baku leading 20-19, Rabadzhieva served an ace. Zhang Xiaoting kept Bohai in contention at 22-21 but Akinradewo brought back the calm for Rabita. Cehn Liyi’s attack was long for match-point 24-21 and Rabita won when Chen Liyi swung and missed her spiking attempt.
To read the latest news click here
