SHAOXING, China, Dec. 7 -- Imoco Volley Conegliano of Italy made it to the final of the FIVB Women's Club World Championship here on Saturday evening, winning the marathon semifinal against Vakifbank Istanbul of Turkey 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 23-21).
After splitting the first four sets 2-2, Conegliano saved three straight match points to rally from 11-14 down in the decisive fifth set and become the eventual winners.
Paola Ogechi Egonu scored a match-high 38 points for Conegliano, with Kimberly Hill adding 11 points, while Isabelle Haak led Vakifbank with 24 points, and Gabriela Braga Guimaraes also contributed 22 points.
The other semifinal will be played later in the evening between Igor Gorgonzola Novara of Italy and Eczacibasi Vitra Istanbul of Turkey.
Earlier in the classification matches for 5-8 places in the afternoon, two Brazilian outfits beat their respective Chinese peers with identical 3-0 score, and will battle it out for the fifth place, with the two clubs from China vying for the seventh place on Sunday.
Itambe Minas beat Tianjin Bohai Bank 25-23, 28-26, 25-19, while Dentil Praia knocked down Guangdong Evergrade 25-22, 25-20, 25-14.
Middle blocker Thaisa Daher de Menezes led Minas with 15 points, with wing spiker Roslandy Acosta Alvarado and opposite spiker Bruna Honorio Marques adding 14 and 13 points respectively, while Yu Junwei scored a team-high 13 points for Tianjin, both wing spiker Li Yingying and opposite spiker Destinee Hooker added 12 points apiece.
Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez led Praia with 19 points and Fernanda Rodrigues added 16, while Li Yao and Tatyana Kosheleva scored 14 points each for Guangdong.