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The third match on the Pool D programme in Istanbul delivered the third tie-breaker of the tournament. This time it was Germany’s Allianz MTV Stuttgart that celebrated with their first win after a 3-2 (29-27, 13-25, 22-25, 25-14, 15-11) five-setter against Russia’s Dinamo Moscow.

After a competitive beginning, Dinamo scored five in a row to break away with an 11-7 lead. Allianz fought back to catch up at 17-17, after a spike and a block by Juliet Lohuis. An ace by Maria Segura Palleres gave the German team the break point they needed to take the lead at 19-18, but the set went deep into overtime before they finally managed to win it at 29-27 with an ace by Lohuis for the last point. Allianz’s Michaela Mlejnkova finished set one with nine points, all in offence.

Dinamo reacted with a 5-1 run to start the second set and never looked back. With Natalia Pereira leading the way with seven points, the Russian side dominated through the end, which came convincingly at 25-13 on a kill block by setter Tatiana Romanova.

The Muscovites scored three in a row, including two consecutive aces by Ekaterina Enina, to gain an 11-8 lead in the third set. After extending it to 18-12 they seemed to be cruising to a set victory, when two successful video challenges by Allianz and some solid serving by Mlejnkova proved the key to a German comeback for 22-22. Still, Dinamo snatched the next three points and once again closed the set on a block, this time by sub-in Natalia Krotkova.

Stepping up their blocking efforts, Allianz took control of the fourth set to break away with a comfortable 8-2 advantage. The rest of the set continued to be completely one-sided. With Krystal Rivers master of the net, she and her teammates cruised on to an emphatic 25-14 close.

The tie-breaker was a great offensive effort for the team from Stuttgart, but also an excessive amount of unforced errors on Dinamo’s side. Allianz took a three-point advantage just before the side switch and battled on to stay ahead until Rivers hammered the winner for 15-11.

Krystal Rivers scored the match high of 25 points and deserved the MVP award. Her teammate Michaela Mlejnkova followed close behind on 23. Natalia Pereira was Dinamo’s top scorer on a 19-point tally.