The golden set was the deciding factor! The Project volleyball players found out who their opponent will be in the Champions League quarterfinals

Allianz Milano defeated Halkbank Ankara 3:1 in the return match of the Champions League play-off round. In the first match, the Turkish team won 3:1, in which case a golden set was needed to determine the winner. The volleyball players from Ankara won it and they will face PGE Projekt Warszawa in the quarterfinals.

The first part was dominated by the volleyball players from Milan, who had a clear advantage in attack. The victory 25:16 was sealed by an effective attack from the second line by Yacine Louati.

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The second set was definitely more exciting. Both teams fought an even fight, and the result hovered around a draw for a long time (16:15, 20:21). The guests had the set point at 23:24, but Ferre Reggers led to an advantage. The Allianz Milano volleyball players decided it with a point block (26:24).

Halkbank's volleyball players had the initiative in the third set. In the middle part of the set they jumped ahead by five points (14:19), but the hosts got back into the fight and made up for the losses with Paolo Porro's serves (20:20). The fate of the set was decided by two actions from the score of 23:23. First, the Milanese missed a serve, and after a moment Marek Sotola pushed the ball to the opponents' side (23:25).

Emotions grew from set to set. Before the fourth, there were two possibilities - either Halkbank's advancement or the golden set. The hosts had the advantage, but the opponents made up for the losses (15:15). In the end, Milan led 22:21 after an ace by Paolo Porro, only to lose 22:23 a moment later. The set was crowned by an advantage game, which was decided by an effective attack by Ferre Reggers (28:26).

So, the golden set! The hosts started to build an advantage from the beginning (5:2). At the change of sides, they had a two-point advantage after a missed serve by their rivals (8:6), but the team from Ankara made up for the losses with Yoanda Leal's serves and reversed the result (11:13). When Marek Sotola attacked effectively, it was 12:14; two actions later, the same player sent the ball to the ninth-meter line and decided the competition in favor of Halkbank (13:15).

Most points: Ferre Reggers (23), Yacine Louati (18), Matey Kaziyski (16), Jordan Schnitzer (11) – Milano; Marek Sotola (32), Yoandy Leal (10), Dick Kooy (10) – Halkbank. MVP: Yacine Louati .

Halkbank Ankara will play PGE Projekt Warszawa in the quarterfinals. Two other Polish clubs await their opponents - Jastrzębski Węgiel (Saint-Nazaire VB Antlantique/Olympiakos SFP) and Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (SVG Lüneburg/Berlin Recycling Volleys).

Allianz Milano - Halkbank Ankara 3:1 (25:16, 26:24, 23:25, 28:26); golden set – 13:15 .

Allianz: Paolo Porro, Yacine Louati, Jordan Schnitzer, Ferre Reggers, Matey Kaziyski, Edoardo Caneschi – Damiano Catania (libero) and Nicola Zonta, Tatsunori Otsuka, Tommaso Barotto, Jacopo Larizza. Coach: Roberto Piazza. Halkbank: Yoandy Leal, Sercan Yuksel Bidak, Dick Kooy, Micah Ma'a, Tuna Uzunkol, Marek Sotola – Volkan Done (libero) and Izzet Unver, Berk Dilmenler, Caner Cicekoglu. Coach: Igor Kolaković.

First match 1:3. Promotion: Halkbank Ankara .

MATCH RESULTS OF THE VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE