Women’s international volleyball: Frantti leads VakifBank; May shines for Lodz

This is our weekly update on USA women playing professional volleyball around the world. Most of the players are former NCAA standouts:

Champions League

Ali Frantti had 15 kills, hit .451 and had three aces as VakifBank began the  playoff round with a sweep of Rzeszow of Poland. Jordan Thompson had 12 kills and Chiaka Ogbogu had a match-high seven blocks and five kills.

Stuttgart swept German League rival Potsdam as Krystal Rivers was top scorer with 15 kills and two blocks. Kayla Haneline had six kills, two blocks and an ace. Justine Wong-Orantes was credited with 80% positive reception for Stuttgart. Breland Morrissette had four kills and a block and Danielle Harbin had two kills.

CEV Cup

Mac May was top scorer with 21 kills, a block and an ace as Budowlani Lodz overcame a slow start and beat Beziers in four sets in the quarterfinals. Claire Hoffman led Beziers with 19 kills and an ace. Serena Gray had11 kills (hitting .588), four blocks and two aces. Taylor Fricano finished with nine kills, three blocks and one ace. 

NUC Viteos fell to Serbian team Stara Pazova in four sets. Madeline Haynes led NUC with 11 kills, three aces and two blocks. Tessa Grubbs added 14 kills and one block. Tia Scambray had 10 kills, three blocks and three aces. Jasmine Gross finished with eight kills, a block and an ace.

Avery Skinner came off the bench with her team trailing to power Chieri past Volero Le Cannet in five sets. Skinner haad 12 kills and three aces. Madi Kingdon added six kills and three aces.

Levallois Paris SC needed four sets to defeat Vasas as Emily Thater had eight kills and two blocks. Taylor Bannister led Vasas with 22 kills (.409) and a block.

CEV Challenge Cup

Wiesbaden fell in the first match of the semifinals series in four sets to Novara. Wiesbaden’s Rachel Anderson had six kills, three blocks and three aces and Jaidyn Blanchfield had nine kills and two blocks.

Nantes swept Turkish team Nilufer in its semifinal series. Taylor Mims led with 13 kills and one block. Jaelyn Keene had a match-high five aces to go along with six kills.

Italy 

Conegliano (19-0) earned a resounding sweep over rival Milano (17-2) to end the week. Kathryn Plummer had eight kills, two blocks and an as Conegliano rallied from a big first-set deficit. Kelsey Robinson Cook had seven kills, a block and an ace. Milano’s Kara Bajema had a kill and a block for Milano. Neither Dana Rettke (Milano) and Khalia Lanier (Conegliano) played.

Casalmaggiore (5-13) won two matches in a row for the first time this season as they swept Firenze (9-10). Simone Lee finished with 14 kills and a block for Casalmaggiore. Micha Hancock added one kill and one ace while setting. Kendall Kipp had six kills, three blocks and one ace for Firenze.

Chieri (10-9) were upset by Pinerolo (9-10) in four sets but Skinner didn’t play. Kingdon had nine kills and two blocks.

Cuneo (5-14) were unable to earn a key point as they fell to Novara (15-3) in four sets. Anna Stevenson-Hall led Cuneo with 11 kills, three blocks and two aces. Madi Kubik added eight kills and one block.

Scandicci (15-4) swept last placed Trentino (1-18) as Haleigh Washington earned MVP honors with 10 kills (.833) and two blocks for Scandicci. Carly DeHoog had five kills. Trentino announced that Madeleine Gates suffered a season-ending injury last week and will rehabilitate in the USA.

Türkiye

Frantti capped a big week for her, leading VaikfBank (17-1) past Sariyer (4-15) in straight sets with 17 kills (.552), two blocks, and one ace. Thompson and Ogbogu did not play.

Kuzeyboru (11-8) needed five sets to escape Cukurova (6-13). Sarah Parsons finished with 11 kills, two blocks and one ace for Kuzeyboru.

PTT (5-14) lost its fourth match in a row, in four sets by Nilufer (9-9). Payton Caffey had 11 kills, three blocks, and an ace for PTT.

Muratpasa (9-10) was swept by THY (13-6). Stephanie Samedy had 10 kills and one block and Micaya White had three kills and one ace in a brief appearance.

Aydin’s (6-13) win streak was snapped by Besiktas (7-12). Aydin setter Lauren Carlini had one block and one ace.

Galatasaray (9-10) was swept by rival Fenerbahce (17-1) to end the week. Danielle Cuttino led Galatasaray with 13 kills and two blocks. Logan Eggleston had seven kills.

Japan

JT Marvelous (20-0) won twice as it aims for an unbeaten season. Annie Drews had 14 kills and one block in a sweep of PFU and then 17 kills, three blocks, and two aces in a four-set win over Toray Arrows.

NEC Red Rockets (17-4) won twice to extends its win streak to four. Drews had 11 kills and three blocks in a sweep of Aranmare. NEC needed four sets to beat Okayama as Drews had 21 kills and three blocks.

Hisamitsu Springs (16-4) also won twice, first beating Hitachi Rivale in five sets as McKenzie Adams had four kills. Adams had 11 kills and one block in a sweep of Queenseis.

Brazil

Minas (10-4) got back to winning ways by sweeping Maringa (6-8). Setter Jenna Gray had two kills and Annie Mitchem played briefly.

SESC RJ (13-1) won its 12th in a row by sweeping Pinheiros (5-9). Roni Jones-Perry had 17 kills (.353) and three aces.

Osasco (11-3) won its sixth in a row by sweeping Barueri (6-8) as Callie Schwarzenbach had seven kills (.636) and a block and Brionne Butler added four kills, two blocks and one ace.

 

Germany

Potsdam earned revenge on Stuttgart by sweeping its rival to end the week. Harbin had 12 kills and Morrissette had three kills and a block. Wong-Orantes was credited with 62% positive reception. Rivers led Stuttgart with eight kills and a block, only appearing as a substitute. Haneline added three blocks and two kills, while Alexis Hart contributed two kills.

Munster finished the regular season with a four-set win over Vilsbiburg. Gloria Mutiri had 11 kills and a block, setter Jenna Ewert had three kills and three blocks and Zoe Fleck was credited with 45% positive reception. Serena Bruin had four kills for Vilsbiburg.

Julia Brown helped lead Suhl past Wiesbaden in four sets with 20 kills and a block. Eleanor Holthaus added 10 kills, two blocks and two aces. Wiesbaden’s Blanchfield had seven kills, two blocks and one ace and Anderson finished with four kills, one block and an ace.

Dresdner fell to new league leaders Schwerin in four sets. Meg Wolowicz was the top scorer for Schwerin with a match-high eight blocks to go along with seven kills (.583). Tia Jimerson finished with six kills for Dresdner.

France

Mims had 21 kills and two blocks as Nantes (16-1) needed five sets to beat Chamalieres (6-11). Keene had three kills and one block as a substitute. Kari Zumach of Chamalieres had six kills, one block, and one ace and Sabrina Starks had six kills and one block.

Jaali Winters had 11 kills and one block but Mulhouse (13-5) was upset in four sets by Venelles (6-12). Annayka Legros added 10 kills and two blocks. Carli Snyder had with eight kills and a block.

Beziers (11-5) had its winning streak snapped, losing in five to TFOC (11-7). Serena Gray led Beziers with 17 kills (.727), three blocks and an ace. Hoffman added 16 kills and two aces and Fricano had 15 kills and two blocks. Powell had a kills and Molly Lohman had three kills as a substitute.

Paris (14-4) swept Marcq en Baroeul. Thater had two kills, two aces, and a block, while Tristin Savage had two kills for Marcq en Baroeul.

Nancy (13-5) ended the week by sweeping  Cannes (7-11) as Katelyn Evans led with 11 kills, two blocks and an ace. Haylie Bennett added nine kills and three blocks and Shayla Hoeft had three kills, three aces and two blocks. Setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres had a block. Madelyn Robinson led Cannes with 10 kills and a block.

Poland

Budowlani Lodz (11-7) fell to Rzeszow (15-3) in four sets. May had 15 kills and two blocks as Lodz’s second-top scorer.

Women’s international volleyball: Frantti leads VakifBank; May shines for Lodz Volleyballmag.com.