International women: Big weeks for Bajema, Jones-Perry, Rivers, Ruddins, Larson, Mims, Holt

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There are hundreds of American women playing professional volleyball internationally. Our weekly report tracks many of them. Almost all in this report are former NCAA stars:

Poland

Rzeszow overcame a slow start to beat LKS Lodz 25-21, 25-17, 25-16, 25-16, 15-13. Kara Bajema had 10 kills (.143), one block, and one ace for Rzeszow. Veronica Jones-Perry was Lodz’s top scorer as she had 19 kills (.167) and three blocks.

Rzeszow then advanced to the Polish league playoff final by beating LKS Lodz 25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23. Bajema was named MVP as she had 21 kills (.422) and four blocks. Jones-Perry had 13 kills (.303) for LKS Lodz as its season ended in the semifinals. Rzeszow will face Chemik Police or Budowlani Lodz in the final.

Germany

Potsdam advanced to the German league final by getting past Dresdner 32-34, 25-18, 25-10, 26-24. Madison Lilley and Lauren Page both made brief appearances for Potsdam. Madeleine Gates had an errorless 10 kills (.625) kills and one ace for Dresdner. Jenna Gray added two blocks, one ace, and one kill as she led Dresdner to hit .268. Dresdner finished the season in third place, unable to defend its title.

Stuttgart also advanced to the final by beating Schwerin 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17. Krystal Rivers was named MVP as she had 21 kills (.459), three blocks, and one ace. Simone Lee added 14 kills (.242), three aces, and one block. Lindsey Ruddins led Schwerin with 19 kills (.300) and one block. Stephanie Samedy had 12 kills (.200).

Turkey 

Aydin ended its season by sweeping Kuzeyboru 25-21, 25-21, 25-17. Anna Stevenson chipped in four kills (.333), two aces, and one block for Aydin. Aydin finished in seventh place.

VakifBank survived a roller-coaster match by beating THY 23-25, 25-11, 18-25, 25-15, 15-9 in the first match of the best-of-three semifinal series. Michelle Barstch-Hackley had 13 kills (.458) and an ace for VakifBank, while Chiaka Ogbogu did not record any stats in a brief appearance. For THY, Madison Kingdon-Rishel had two kills (-.200) in a substitute appearance. Lauren Carlini set THY to hit .172.

Italy

Imoco Conegliano got the semifinals underway with a straight forward 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 sweep over Scandicci. Kathryn Plummer had nine kills (.174) and one block for Conegliano. Megan Courtney-Lush made a brief appearance as a substitute, recording two perfect receptions.

Imoco Conegliano advanced to the final by beating Scandicci 22-25, 25-22, 25-11, 25-21. Plummer had nine kills (.125). Courtney-Lush came in as a substitute again, receiving two serves for 67% positivity. Conegliano is in the league playoff finals for the fourth season in a row.

Novara battled Monza to a 25-22, 25-18, 29-31, 20-25, 15-12 win. Haleigh Washington had 10 kills (.571) and a team high four blocks for Novara. Micha Hancock added two kills, two aces, and a block while leading Novara to hit .258. Jordan Larson was top scorer for Monza as she had 15 kills (.250) and three blocks. Dana Rettke had 11 kills (.444), three blocks, and an ace.

Monza swept Novara 29-27, 25-17, 26-24 to push the series to a third and final match. Larson was named MVP as she had 10 kills (.417) and one block. Larson also had eight receptions, which she passed 75% positively. Rettke added six kills (.462) and three blocks. Washington had five kills (.333) and one block for Novara. Hancock had one ace as she set Novara to hit .282 in the match. The teams will play one final match in this upcoming week to determine who will play Imoco Conegliano in the finals.

France 

Top seed Volero Le Cannet started the semifinals with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-16 sweep of TFOC. Taylor Mims led TFOC with 13 kills (.229) and an ace. Kendall White was credited with 15 receptions, passing 60% positive. Ashley Evans set TFOC to hit .175.

Le Cannet advanced to the final, narrowly overcoming TFOC 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 17-15. Mims had 22 kills (.278) and four blocks for TFOC. White had 13 receptions, which she passed 31% positively. Evans added two blocks, one kill, and one ace as she led TFOC to hit .302. TFOC ended the best season in team history.

Mulhouse narrowly escaped RC Cannes 26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19. Yossiana Pressley came off the bench to have 15 kills (.379) for Mulhouse. Carli Snyder was top scorer for Cannes as she had 17 kills (.208) and an ace. Jaali Winters added 16 kills (.234) while Claire Felix had six kills (.429) and five blocks.

Mulhouse also advanced to the final by beating RC Cannes 22-25, 25-20, 24-26, 27-25, 25-12. Pressley came off the bench again to add 17 kills (.270), two blocks, and an ace. Snyder was the match’s top scorer as she had 27 kills (.379), two blocks, and two aces for Cannes. Felix added nine kills (.273) and five blocks. Micaya White came off the bench to have 13 points while Winters had seven.

Switzerland

Viteos NUC won the Swiss league title by beating Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen 25-20, 19-25, 25-16, 25-23d. Kyra Holt was top scorer for NUC as she had 17 kills (.300) and an ace. Samantha Drechsel had 12 kills (.321) and three aces while Tia Scambray added 14 kills (.219) and an ace. Jasmine Gross chipped in eight kills (.353), three blocks, and an ace. For Pfeffingen, Madison Duello led the way with 20 kills (.400), three blocks, and two aces.

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