Women’s pro volleyball: Bajema, VakifBank advance; Turkey resumes play; busy week in Puerto Rico

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 advanced to the quarterfinals by sweeping LKS Lodz 25-23, 28-26, 25-23. Kara Bajema had seven kills, a match-high five blocks and an ace and Chiaka Ogbogu added five kills, two blocks and an ace. VakifBank plays Milano next.

CEV Cup

Scandicci made the semifinals by beating Potsdam (25-17, 25-14, 22-25, 25-17 as Haleigh Washington had four kills, three blocks and two aces. Scandicci plays THY.

THY also advanced by sweeping Mulhouse 25-19, 25-22, 25-22. Madi Kingdon led with 12 kills and three blocks.

Challenge Cup

Chieri advanced to the final by beating Suhl 25-20, 25-15, 19-25, 25-15. Brionne Butler came off the bench to have three kills and a block for Chieri and Julia Brown was the top scorer for Suhl with 12 kills, a block and an ace. Jenna Ewert had an ace. Chieri plays Lugoj of Romania in the final.

Turkey

Play, which was postponed after the earthquake, has resumed.

SigortaShop upset Aydin 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-11. Kelsie Payne led SigortaShop with 23 kills, two blocks, and two aces. Marin Grote had 13 kills (.480) and four blocks.

Galatasaray got past last-place Ilbank 25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 25-14. Logan Eggleston was a serving sub.

Nilufer was upset by Sariyer 19-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 15-10. Brooke Nuneviller was the top scorer for Nilufer with 16 kills and an ace. Teammate Sherridan Atkinson added eight kills, a block, and an ace.

VakifBank got swept by Eczacibasi 25-21, 28-26, 25-21. Bajema had four kills and Ogbogu one.

Puerto Rico

Manati began the week by beating defending-champion Corozal 15-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 as Gloria Mutiri had 14 kills and four blocks. Callie Schwarzenbach had 14 kills and a block. Adanna Rollins had eight kills, two blocks and an ace and Ronika Stone added six kills and three blocks. Setter Tori Dilfer had a kill, a block and an ace.

Juncos upset Caguas 20-25, 25-19, 13-25, 25-16, 15-9 as Naya Gros had 11 kills and three blocks and setter Natalie Hayward added two kills, two blocks and two aces. Kayla Caffey led Caguas with nine kills, six blocks and an ace. Shelly Stafford had 13 kills while Kash Williams had six kills and two blocks.

Naranjito beat Ponce 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22. Lindsey Vander Weide had 12 kills and two blocks for Naranjito. Taylor Sandbothe had six kills, five blocks and an ace. Setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres added two blocks, a kill, and an ace. Nia Robinson led Ponce with 16 kills, a block and an ace, Eleanor Holthaus had 14 kills and two blocks and Jhenna Gabriel contributed two kills and a block.

Naranjito then handed Santurce its first loss 18-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-18 as Vander Weide had 14 kills and an ace and Sandbothe both had four kills and four blocks. Ka’aha’aina-Torres had four kills, two blocks, and two aces. Madi Kubik and Gina Mancuso both left injured in the first set for Santurce.

Corozal (4-5) bounced back to sweep Juncos 25-23, 25-20, 25-16. Stone had six kills, two blocks, and an ace, Rollins finished with five kills, and Dilfer had four kills and a block. Gros had six kills and Hayward had one for Juncos (3-5).

Caguas also reversed its fortunes by beating Manati 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22 and Caffey was the second-top scorer with 12 kills and six blocks. Stafford added five kills while Williams had four. Mutiri was the second-top scorer for Manati (4-6) with 12 kills and three blocks. Schwarzenbach had four kills, four blocks and an ace, while Welsh returned to the lineup to have one kill and an ace.

Caguas (5-5) then upset Naranjito 25-16, 19-25, 25-18, 25-23 as Williams had 11 kills and three blocks. Stafford had nine kills and two blocks while Caffey added four blocks, two kills and two aces. Vander Weide led Naranjito (8-2) with 14 kills and an ace. Sandbothe had nine kills, two blocks and an ace and Ka’aha’aina-Torres added two kills, two blocks and an ace.

Ponce (2-8) got its second win of the season by upsetting Santurce 25-23, 19-25, 25-17, 25-23. Robinson led with 19 kills and two aces. Holthaus followed with 18 kills and a block. Gabriel had two aces, a kill, and a block while. Santurce (2-7) was missing both Kubik and Mancuso again. Reserve Gabby Simpson finished with seven kills.

Italy

Busto Arsizio (10-11) beat Pinerolo 16-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 as setter Carli Lloyd had two kills and two blocks.

Scandicci’s (17-4) hot streak continued by sweeping Chieri 25-21, 25-20, 25-20. Washington had four kills and a block for Scandicci, while Butler had seven kills and a block for Chieri (14-7).

Cuneo (8-13) pulled off the reverse sweep against Perugia 22-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 15-10. Dani Drews came off the bench to earn MVP honors with 14 kills and three aces. Anna Stevenson-Hall added nine kills and two blocks.

Casalmaggiore (10-11) also overcame a slow start andbeat Macerata 21-25, 25-18, 25-10, 25-17. Ali Frantti had 13 kills, a block and an ace. Setter Lauren Carlini added three kills, two blocks and two aces. Claire Chaussee had nine kills for Macerata (2-19) and Symone Abbott added five kills and an ace.

Annie Drews’ hot form continued as she led Vallefoglia past Bergamo 25-22, 25-11, 17-25, 25-12. Drews had a match-high 21 kills. Micha Hancock was named MVP as the setter had a match-high four blocks, along with two kills. Vallefoglia won its second match in a row and improved to 9-12. Khalia Lanier had seven kills, a block and an ace for Bergamo (10-11). Mac May added a kill.

Imoco Conegliano (20-1) swept Milano 25-23, 25-15, 25-23 and Kathryn Plummer had 14 kills and a block. Kelsey Cook added six kills, three aces and two blocks. Jordan Larson had five kills for Milano (15-6), while Jordan Thompson was limited to two. Dana Rettke, a late sub, had no points.

Japan

JT Marvelous split its weekend series. First, it swept Kurobe 25-20, 25-21, 25-23) as Karsta Lowe had 15 kills and two blocks. JT Marvelous was then upset by Denso 25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 25-19 as Lowe had nine kills.

Toyota Autobody Queenseis lost twice, first to NEC Red Rockets 26-24, 25-23, 25-17. Danielle Cuttino led Queenseis with 17 kills and three blocks. Queenseis fell to Ageo 25-21, 31-33, 25-22, 25-18 and Cuttino had 19 kills, two blocks and an ace.

France

Beziers (15-7) swept Levallois 25-21, 25-17, 25-16 as Avery Skinner had 10 kills (.526), a block and an ace. Blake Mohler added five kills and a block. Madison Lilley had one block while setting Beziers to hit .538. Justine Wong-Orantes was credited with 79% positive reception.

Nancy upset Cannes 25-16, 25-22, 28-30, 25-21. Annayka Legros was the second-top scorer for Nancy (10-12) with 14 kills, four blocks and an ace. Shayla Hoeft had four kills. Carli Snyder led Cannes (12-10) with 18 kills, a block and an ace. Claire Felix added 11 kills (.846) and two blocks. Madeleine Gates had seven kills and four blocks. Cannes setter Jenna Gray contributed three blocks and a kill.

Setter August Raskie led Venelles’ upset of Paris SC 25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22. Raskie had five kills and two blocks for Venelles (12-10). Samantha Drechsel had 12 kills and two aces. Katelyn Evans added 12 kills (.706) and an ace.

The weekend of upsets continued as TFOC swept first-placed Nantes 25-23, 25-23, 25-20. Setter Alohi Robins-Hardy was named MVP for TFOC (15-6). Taylor Fricano had 18 kills and three blocks. Shannon Scully added 11 kills. Kendall White was credited with 83% positive reception. Taylor Mims had 14 kills for Nantes (17-5).

Germany

Aachen (8-8) was swept by Dresden 25-13, 25-22, 25-18. Setter Ashley Evans had one kill and an ace.

Alexis Hart earned MVP honors as Stuttgart swept Neuwied 25-20, 25-12, 25-17. Hart had 18 kills (.571) and a block. Krystal Rivers had six kills (.667) while only playing in the first set. Simone Lee did not play for Stuttgart (15-1).

Zoe Fleck earned her first professional victory as Munster beat Wiesbaden 20-25, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-11. Fleck was credited with 53% positive reception on 19 attempts for Munster (8-9).

Suhl kept its playoff hopes alive by upsetting second-place Potsdam 25-21, 26-24, 25-20. Brown was MVP with 12 kills (.524) and a block. Harbin added 10 kills and an ace. Ewert had two aces for Suhl (6-11).