SHAOXING, China, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Igor Gorgonzola Novara of Italy scored its second full-set victory, beating Vakifbank Istanbul of Turkey 3-2 in the FIVB Women's Club World Championship here on Thursday evening.
Both sides staged a marathon match which lasted two hours and 20 minutes before debutants Novara had the upper hand 25-21, 25-22, 25-27, 24-26 and 15-12.
Ever losing the third set 25-27, the Italian side still looked to be on the way to an easy success as the reigning European champions established a 16-6 lead in the fourth set, which Vakifbank astonishingly rallied to tie 23-all and took it 26-24.
However, Novara who won their opener 3-2 against Tianjin Bohai Bank from two sets down on Wednesday, survived the tough challenge from the Turks as they led 10-5 en route to the 15-12 win in the decisive fifth set.
Opposite spiker Jovana Brakocevic scored a match-high 30 points for Novara, with middle blocker Stefana Veljkovic and wing spiker Megan Courtney adding 16 and 13 points respectively.
For the 2018 FIVB club world champions Vakifbank, opposite spiker Isabelle Haak had a team-high 29 points, middle blocker Zehra Gunes and wing spiker Ebrar Karakurt added 16 and 15 points respectively.
With one round of matches remaining in Pool B, both Novara and Vakifbank accumulated four points, and neither was assured of its sailing into the semifinals so far.
The other Pool B match was going on in the evening between Tianjin of China and Dentil Praia of Brazil, both of them lost their respective opener on Wednesday.
