For the second straight time, Novara came up clutch in a five-set encounter that put them on top of Pool B. The Italian club’s main offensive weapon was Brakocevic who had 28 kills and two blocks, while the losing side’s hero was the young Isabelle Haak who was one point shy of matching Brakocevic’s output.Novara started off strong as they won the first two sets, but Vakifbank fought hard to force the tiebreaker. Brakocevic and Haak continued to score for their respective sides in the final frame until Novara got the three-point edge that sealed their victory.
Brakocevic is the best scorer so far in the tournament with 58 points, followed by Haak who recorded 51 points in two matches.
In the second match, Tianjin Bohai Bank recovered from their five-set loss on opening day by foiling Dentil Praia Clube’s the big comeback in the tie-break set.
Zhu Ting played in the first three sets but a slight injury on her wrist let her miss the action in the succeeding frames, but the young Chinese players led by Li Yingying stepped up on offence to help their team secure their win.
Li Yingying scored with 23 points, while Zhu Ting and Destinee Hooker added 19 and 17 points, respectively, to help the team.
Source: Volley - fivb.org
