Volero Zurich succeeded in their encounter with Supreme Chonburi in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship
Shaoxing, China, December 8, 2018 – A determined Gergana Dimitrova hammered 21 spikes to guide her team to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21) win over Supreme Chonburi in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club Volleyball Championship on Saturday.
Dimitrova produced a total of 25 points, including 21 kills, two blocks and two aces, then her teammate Mira Todorova added 18 points to Volero's winning cause.
Middle blockers Pleumjit Thinkaow and Watchareeya Nuanjam helped Supreme Chonburi with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Volero showed an inspired effort after missing the services of their key players due to injuries that certainly hampered their performance in the tournament. However, the French club appeared in sync on offence against the quick and defence-driven Supreme side. Todorova and Dimitrova scored numerous spikes to lead the squad to a win in the opening set 25-17.
Seasoned Thai players Pleumjit and Wilavan fought hard to score, but the Volero block was just too tough to penetrate. Volero had enough edge to win 25-20, courtesy of towering spikes from Dimitrova and Angelina Lazarenko. By the end of the second set, Dimitrova had already recorded 14 markers on the board.
The Chonburi-based club played with a quicker tempo to mount a huge lead at the start of the third set. Pleumjit led the charge for Supreme, while her teammates took care of defence. Supreme managed to contain Dimitrova in the beginning, but the Volero outside hitter got into her scoring rhythm to reduce the lead. Volero made a valiant effort on defence that further reduced the lead to 24-23, but Supreme managed to escape their rivals with an off-the-block hit.
Volero kept their composure and maintained a slim lead in the fourth set, but Supreme kept up the fight and came back to within a point. Volero completed the match win after great spikes from Todorova and Olena Hasanova, and a ball handling error from Supreme 25-21.