MATCH INFO

Doha, Qatar, October 12, 2011 – Azerbaijan’s Rabita Baku gained the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship Pool B top seed into the semifinals after defeating Brazil’s Sollys Nestle Osasco 25-12, 23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-6 on Wednesday at Doha, Qatar.

Rabita Baku will face the second-place team from Pool A in the semifinal round on Thursday at 5 p.m. Sollys Nestle Osasco will meet the top-seed from Pool A, which will be determined in the second match later today between VakifBank TTelekom Istanbul and Kenya Prisons Nairobi. A VakifBank TTelekom victory would yield them the top seed, while Dominican Republic’s Mirador Santo Domingo would finish second. A Kenya Prisons Nairobi win would put tiebreakers into motion for the top two seeds as all three teams would finish with 1-1 records, but Mirador would be the odd team out of the semifinals.

Both teams used balanced scoring throughout the match with nine different players scoring 10 or more points. Natasa Osmokrovic totaled a team-high 21 points in leading Rabita Baku as four other teammates reached double-figure scoring.  Natalya Mammadova contributed 19 points in the victory, while Natasa Krsmanovic charted 15 points. Juliana Costa paced Sollys Nestle Osasco with 20 points, while Samara Almeida and Adenizia Silva added 16 points each.

Rabita Baku held a 18-8 block advantage and benefited from 28 errors by Sollys Nestle Osasco. Rabita Baku held their errors to 10.

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Sollys Nestle Osasco took a 3-1 lead in the opening set following a block by Adenizia Silva, but Rabita Baku answered quickly to take the lead at 5-3 on a Mammodova spike and consecutive Sollys Nestle attack error as part of a 4-0 scoring run. Rabita Baku rolled into the first technical timeout with an 8-4 advantage after a Osmokrovic block. Rabita scored three of the next four points to secure an 11-5 lead. Rabita Baku took a 17-8 margin right after the second technical timeout. Rabita Baku finished the set with a 25-12 victory, scoring four of the final five points. Osmokrovic tallied seven points with six spikes on seven errorless attacks.

For most of the second set, both teams traded points with neither gaining a significant cushion. The second set was tight through the first technical timeout as Sollys Nestle Osasco held a slim 8-7 margin. Juliana Costa hit off the Rabita Baku to earn a 9-7 advantage. Rabita Baku bounced back with two quick points to knot the score at 9-all after Krsmanovic block, then Sollys Nestle hit long to lift Rabita Baku in front 10-9. Rabita Baku maintained their one-point cushion to the second technical timeout at 16-15. Out of the break, Mammadova connected for a block to gain a two-point cushion at 17-15. Sollys Nestle Osasco leveled the score at 21-all with a Silva block, then teammate Costa hit through a double block to put the squad up 22-21. Costa served an ace for the winner at 25-23 after she slammed an attack to reach set point. Almeida scored a team-leading six points in the set, while Silva and Costa each totaled five points.

Rabita Baku took a 3-0 lead in the third set with spikes from Starovic, Mammadova and Golubovic, prompting a Sollys Nestle Osasco timeout. Out of the break, Mammadova and Golubovic hammered attacks off the block for a 5-0 advantage. Consecutive blocks by Osmokrovic and Krsmanovic increased the lead to 10-3. Sollys Nestle Osasco scored four unanswered points capped by a Ivna Marra spike at 13-9 leading to a Rabita Baku timeout. Out of the break, Rabita Baku scored three consecutive points including a block by Golubovic to reach the second technical timeout with a 16-9 margin. Sollys Nestle Osasco trimmed the deficit to 20-16 following a Costa spike down the left side. Rabita Baku reached set point 24-18 on a bad set, then captured the set on a Mammadova cross-court winner at 25-18, her team-leading sixth point of the set.

Krsmanovic gave Rabita Baku a 3-1 lead on an ace early in the fourth set, only to have Sollys Nestle Osasco score the next three points capped by an Almeida attack to reverse the lead to 4-3. Out of a Rabita Baku timeout, Sollys Nestle Osasco increased their margin to 5-3 on a Rabita Baku error. Iryna Shukova leveled the set at 5-all with a block, then went in front 7-6 after a Sollys Nestle Osasco attack error. However, Sollys Osasco went back into the lead 8-7 at the technical timeout after Rabita Baku attacked into the net. Rabita Baku regained the lead at 9-8 after a Zhukova attack and Sollys Nestle Osasco attack error. Sollys Nestle Osasco reached a 13-11 advantage after a Marra block. Rabita Baku leveled the score at 15-all. Costa pounded an attack out of the technical timeout to extend the Sollys Nestle Osasco advantage to 17-15. Rabita Baku evened the set at 19-all on a Krsmanovic block. Rabita Baku added two more blocks in a row by Krsmanovic and Mammadova for a 21-19 advantage. Marra tied the score at 22-all leading to Rabita Baku’s second timeout. Out of the break, Marra scored her second straight point and Rabita Baku hit long to yield a 24-22 advantage for Sollys Nestle Osasco. Marra ended the set with another spike, her sixth point of the set, at 25-23. Costa added seven points for Sollys Nestle Osasco.

Mammadova ended a long rally with a block to yield an early 4-2 lead for Rabita Baku. Golubovic downed an overpass to increase the lead to 5-2. Rabita Baku reached the side switch leading 8-5 on a Osmokrovic attack, then Krsmanovic added a spike at 9-5 forcing a Sollys Nestle Osasco timeout. Rabita Baku increased the lead to 11-5 following a block by Osmokrovic. The block continued to work for Rabita Baku down the stretch as it finished with a 15-6 victory.