Gerdau Minas of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, managed a 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-20) victory over Kuanysh Club of Petropavl, Kazakhstan, in a direct duel for the second place in Pool B at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship 2022 in the Turkish city of Antalya on Friday.

This victory allowed Gerdau Minas to claim the last vacancy in Saturday’s semifinals. They will play Italy’s Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano at 13:30 UTC (16:30 local time), who clinched first place in Pool A with a 3-1 victory over hosts Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul in the head-to-head matchup (25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18). This victory allowed Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano to claim the top spot. In an all-Turkish semifinal match that will begin at 20:00, second-placed Eczacibasi will take on VakifBank Spor Kulubu, a rival team from the same city that is also the defending champion (17:00).

The Swedish opponent for Imoco, Isabelle Haak, and her Serbian counterpart and captain for Eczacibasi’s side, Tijana Boskovic, engaged in a fierce scoring race. Haak produced the match high of 26 points, including two aces and three blocks. Boskovic scored the most points for Eczacibasi’s side with 18. At the end of the game, Boskovic had a total of 22 points, including two blocks and an ace. The Panthers’ blocking provided 11 stuffs in the first match of the competition to go beyond three sets, whilst the Tigers’ blocking only contributed three stuffs in the match. The fact that Imoco had seven aces to the host team’s two was another factor that contributed significantly to the match’s outcome.

Haak won the first point of the match with a hammer blow and then followed it up with an ace to make it 2-0. Once more, Haak capped off a four-point Imoco series with a massive block to give his team a 10-5 advantage. The Italian team totally dominated the remainder of the set to pull away by a significant lead, despite the fact that the Swedish star was on fire and had eight points. Kelsey Robinson, an American outside hitter, earned the first set point for her team at the score of 24-14. However, Eczacibasi was able to come back and defeat her four times before Robinson herself won the match by a score of 25-18.

Eczacibasi raced into the second set having already won the first by a score of 5-1. After a few moments, the Tigers were able to expand their lead to 9-3 thanks to a four-point streak that was culminated by an ace serve from Boskovic. Imoco’s attempts at a comeback were only successful in bringing them to within a point of the Serbian opponents, who, with the help of an outsider named Hande Baladin, managed to keep the fire going in offence. Another three points in a succession gave Eczacibasi a set point, which was converted by the middle blocker Sinead Jack of Trinidad and Tobago for a score of 25-21.

In the third and deciding set, US outside hitter Kathryn Plummer capped off a six-point run for Imoco with an ace serve to open up a 12-5 lead for her team. Eczacibasi fought back and managed to narrow it down to a point by increasing the pressure with their middles. However, when Haak crowned her brilliant spiking in the set with a pipe shot for a set point at 24-22, it was followed up by a monster block from Marina Lubian for the 25-22 victory. Eczacibasi fought back and managed to narrow it down to a point.

After getting off to a strong start in the fourth set, with Boskovic scoring two points in a row, the Tigers let the initiative get away from them. When it was Haak’s turn to serve, the Panthers scored four points in a row, which gave them a lead of 12-7 that they never relinquished. This time, they were successful in keeping the home team at a distance. At 24-18, match point was earned by Lubian thanks to a lightning-fast spike across the middle of the court. Plummer’s swing for the score of 25-18 proved to be the decisive point in the match.

Gerdau Minas defeated Kuanysh in straight sets, and their legendary middle blocker Thaisa Menezes was their team’s leading scorer throughout the match. The Brazilian player, who is 35 years old, contributed 15 points to the team’s total, including three blocks and two aces. In terms of attacks, she was successful 71% of the time. Kisy Nascimento, Kuanysh’s opposing player, contributed another 10 points, while Tatyana Aldoshina, Kuanysh’s opposite player and captain, scored a game-high 17 points, all of which came from the offensive end.

Priscila Daroit, who plays outside hitter for Minas, served an ace that was wonderfully placed to start the match. Because Aldoshina was so effective in attack, the Asian club champions were able to stay in the match until the score was tied at 7-7. However, at that point, the Brazilians assumed full control of the court and raced to an impressive 25-14 victory, with Kisy serving up the point that won the set.

An ace from middle blocker Julia Kudiess gave Minas a 4-0 lead to open the second set, which was the highlight of the team’s immaculate start. Throughout the remainder of the set, the team from Belo Horizonte maintained their position as the dominant team. Another resounding victory for Thaisa’s team, which Kudiess sealed with a kill on a swing in the center, was the result of the all-around brilliance displayed by Thaisa in every facet of the game. She was outstanding in attack, in blocking, and from the serving line.

The third set started off with an ace from Pri Daroit, much like the opening set did. The other two pieces in the set were, for the most part, not very dissimilar to the ones that came before them. Before an ace from Kudiess brought in match point at 24-16, Minas had already built up a significant lead. At this point, Kuanysh made one last push and was able to prevent Thaisa from putting the ball on the floor for the winning 25-20 score by preventing it as much as four times.

Are you looking for the best online casino to play and earn real money? OKBET is what you’ve been looking for, and OKBET is the best fit for you! Download the OKBET app and enjoy playing, watch your favorite games and win an exciting prizes. Register Now!