Vero Volley book first semifinal spot in Hangzhou

Italy’s Numia Vero Volley Milan emerged as the first team to mathematically secure a spot in Saturday’s semifinals at the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in Hangzhou, China, after getting back on the winning track with a straight-set victory over Egypt’s Zamalek Giza on Thursday. Brazil’s Dentil Praia Clube Uberlandia also swept their last pool match against Vietnam’s LP Bank Ninh Binh and they are also very likely to advance to the semis, but will have to wait for the result of the last match in their pool on Friday to be sure. Zamalek and LP Bank are done with their rookie Club World Championship appearances, both without winning a single set.

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Pool A

Numia Vero Volley Milan hammered out an emphatic 3-0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-18) shutout of Zamalek Giza in their last Pool A match and collected a 2-1 win-loss record, 6 points and 6-3 in sets. They stand second in the current pool standings and can no longer be pushed down, regardless of the result of the remaining game between pool leaders Tianjin Bohai Bank of China (2-0, 6, 6-0) and third-placed Gerdau Minas Belo Horizonte of Brazil (1-1, 3, 3-3) on Friday. Even if Minas achieve a straight-set victory over Tianjin, Vero Volley will have a better point ratio than at least one of these two opponents.

Vero Volley dominated their game against Zamalek on all counts, most impressively in serving, which brought them as many as 11 aces against none for the opponents. The Italian club’s French outside hitter Helena Cazaute was the only player to reach the double digits during the match. She topped the charts with 13 points, including two aces.

The last match in the pool, between Minas and hosts Tianjin on Friday, will serve off at 19:30 local time (11:30 UTC).

Pool B

In Thursday’s Pool B match, Dentil Praia Clube Uberlandia mastered a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-12) victory over LP Bank Ninh Binh and, in all likelihood, will also be among the semifinalists on Saturday. They are second in the pool on a 2-1 win-loss record, 6 points and 6-3 in sets, but there is still a mathematical chance of finishing below the top two, if third-placed NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki of Japan (1-1, 3, 3-3) defeat pool leaders Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano of Italy (2-0, 6, 6-0) in straight sets and by a certain point margin on Friday.

Praia outplayed their Vietnamese opponents in all scoring elements. They were led by American opposite Nia Reed with 11 points, all in spike kills. LP Bank’s opposite and captain Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen was the best scorer of the match with 18 points, including one kill block.

Pool B action will come to a conclusion on Friday. The last game in the pool, between Imoco and NEC, is set to get underway at 15:00 (07:00).

2024 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship: schedule and results

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