International volleyball: Drews, JT Marvelous compete 22-0 regular season; 33 kills for Cuttino

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

Champions League

VakifBank and Stuttgart are into the semifinals.

VakifBank swept Rzeszow as Ali Frantti led with nine kills, two aces and a block while playing only two sets. Jordan Thompson had nine kills and a block and Chiaka Ogbogu had five kills in five attacks and three blocks.

Stuttgart swept German rival Potsdam as Krystal Rivers had four kills and two blocks in the two sets necessary for Stuttgart to advance. Alexis Hart added six kills and a block as a third-set sub.

Danielle Harbin led Potsdam with 11 kills, while Breland Morrissette had five blocks, four kills and an ace. Justine Wong-Orantes was credited with 50% positive reception.

CEV Cup

Avery Skinner had 21 kills and a block as Chieri needed five sets to escape Volero Le Cannet and get to the semifinals for the first time in club history. Madi Kingdon had two kills as a late-match sub.

Budowlani Lodz is also in the semis after eliminating Beziers. Mac May of Lodz had four kills and two blocks in two sets. Serena Gray finished with 10 kills, three blocks and an ace for Beziers. Claire Hoffman had nine kills in two sets. Taylor Fricano added 11 kills and two blocks and setter Ella May Powell had an ace.

Madeline Haynes had 22 kills and hit .395 and Tia Scambray had 16 kills, seven aces and a block as NUC Viteos eliminated Serbian team Stara Pazova to also make the semis for the first time. Tessa Grubbs added 14 kills, two blocks and two aces and Jasmine Gross had two kills and a block. 

Paris SC rounded out the semifinals by beating Vasas in five sets. Emily Thater had nine kills and four blocks for Paris. Taylor Bannister led Vasas with 18 kills, a block and an ace.

CEV Challenge Cup

Nantes swept Nilufer to advance to the final as Jaelyn Keene led five kills, four aces and a block. Taylor Mims added eight kills.

Wiesbaden fell short, losing in four sets by Novara, which only needed to win two sets to advance. Jaidyn Blanchfield had eight kills and a block  and Rachel Anderson had eight kills.

Japan

Annie Drews was on fire as JT Marvelous (22-0) capped its perfect regular season with two victories. 

Drews had 17 kills and three blocks in a sweep of Hitachi Rivale and then closed the regular season with 30 kills and two blocks in four sets against Okayama.

NEC Red Rockets (18-4) clinched the second seed in the playoffs by sweeping Ageo as the other American Drews, Dani Drews, had nine kills and two blocks.

Hisamitsu Springs (18-4) earned the third seed in the playoffs with two wins. McKenzie Adams had eight kills and two blocks in a sweep of Toray and then had 21 kills and two blocks in five sets against Ageo.

Poland

Mac May earned MVP honors as Budowlani Lodz (12-7) beat Radom (9-10) in five sets as she had 22 kills, three aces and a block.

Italy

Haleigh Washington came off the bench and had seven kills and two blocks as Scandicci (16-4) pulled off a reverse sweep of Vallefoglia (9-11).

Milano (17-3) was upset by Novara (16-3) in five. Dana Rettke had nine kills (.667) and two blocks after coming off the bench for Milano. Kara Bajema added five kills in a brief appearance.

Simone Lee powered Casalmaggiore (6-13) past Busto Arsizio (5-15) for its third win in a row. Lee had 22 kills (hitting .500), two blocks and an ace. Busto setter Micha Hancock added five aces and a kill.

Chieri (11-9) bounced back by sweeping Bergamo (4-16) as Avery Skinner had 12 kills and an ace for Chieri.

Cuneo’s (5-15) relegation fate is more imminent after losing toTrentino (2-18). Anna Stevenson-Hall had 10 kills and one ace and Madi Kubik had eight kills and one ace. Trentino sub Carly DeHoog had a kill.

Kelsey Robinson Cook led Conegliano (20-0) past Firenze (9-11) in four sets with 18 kills, three blocks and an ace. Khalia Lanier added nine kills. Kendall Kipp had five kills and four blocks as a substitute for Firenze. Lauren Stivrins, also a sub, had two kills and one block.

Türkiye

Danielle Cuttino went off for 33 kills and had four blocks and an ace as Galatasaray (10-10) beat Aydin (6-14). Teammate Logan Eggleston had 15 kills, three blocks and two aces. Aydin setter Lauren Carlini had two blocks and two aces.

VakifBank (18-1) kept pace at the top by beating Cukurova (6-14). Ogbogu finished with nine kills, three blocks and an ace, Frantti did not play and Thompson was as a serving sub.

Muratpasa (9-11), which got got nine kills from Micaya White and eight an ace from Samedy Stephanie Samedy, was swept by Fenerbahce (18-1).

Sarah Parsons led Kuzeyboru (12-8) past Karayollari (1-19) with 13 kills (.571) and two blocks.

Payton Caffrey had seven kills but PTT (5-15) fell into relegation danger after being swept by Sariyer (5-15).

Brazil

SESC RJ (14-1) swept SESI Bauru (9-6) as Roni Jones-Perry led with 17 kills and one block.

Osasco (12-3) escaped an upset by beating Pinheiros (5-11) in five sets. Brionne Butler had nine kills (.692) and four blocks. Callie Schwarzenbach added five kills, two blocks and an ace.

Minas (11-5) got back to winning ways by beating Pinheiros in four sets. Setter Jenna Gray and sub Annie Mitchem had a kill each.

Germany

With the main phase of the regular season over, the Bundesliga has split into two groups, with the top five teams comprising “Group A” while teams that placed 6-9 in “Group B”.

Stuttgart swept Suhl. Alexis Hart had seven kills and one ace for Stuttgart. Jenny Mosser led Suhl with eight kills and two aces. Eleanor Holthaus had eight kills, as well. Adria Powell made her professional debut for Suhl and had a kill.

Dresdner lost in five to league-leading Schwerin. Dresdner’s Tia Jimerson was silver MVP with 12 kills, five blocks, and ace.

Wiesbaden began its campaign in Group B by sweeping Munster. Rachel Anderson was Wiesbaden’s second top scorer with 12 kills and a block. Blanchfield had seven kills, two blocks and an ace. Gloria Mutiri led Munster with 11 kills, two blocks and an ace. Setter Jenna Ewert had three kills and Zoe Fleck was credited with 44% positive reception.

Gabby Goddard had seven kills, two blocks and an ace, but Aachen lost to Vilsbiburg in four sets.

France

Beziers (12-5) pulled off the upset of the week by beating league-leading Nantes (15-2) in four sets. Serena Gray was named MVP after she had nine kills (.615), five blocks and four aces and Claire Hoffman had 13 kills, two blocks, and one ace. Taylor Fricano finished with 10 kills, while setter Ella May Powell had a kill. Taylor Mims led Nantes with 20 kills and two blocks. Jaelyn Keene added seven kills and three blocks.

Paris SC (15-4) won its third in a row by sweeping Cannes (7-12). Emily Thater did not play but Madelyn Robinson led Cannes with seven kills, three aces and two blocks.

Mulhouse (14-5) easily swept Quimper (1-17). Annayka Legros led with six blocks, four kills and four aces. Carli Snyder had six kills, two aces and two blocks. Jaali Winters had six kills in two sets.

Nancy (14-5) pulled off the reverse sweep to beat Venelles (6-13) and Katelyn Evans was MVP with 20 kills, three blocks and two aces. Haylie Bennett had 13 kills and two blocks. Setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres added eight kills (.727), a block and an ace. Breana Runnels came off the bench to finish with eight kills, while Shayla Hoeft had four kills, a block and an ace.

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International volleyball: Drews, JT Marvelous compete 22-0 regular season; 33 kills for Cuttino Volleyballmag.com.