Kazakhstan's Zhetysu emerges victorious in PH-hosted AVC Champions League

MANILA, Philippines, April 29 ------ Kazakhstan volleyball club Zhetysu emerged as the victor of the Philippine-hosted 2025 AVC Women's Champions League. This, as the taller Kazakhs took down Vietnam's VTV Binh Dien Long An in the gold medal match, 25-14, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18 at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

Zhetysu will be taking home this trophy which was previously made available to the media by the organizers. The Kazakhs went undefeated in the tournament and didn't even incur a single set loss in the pool phase, quarterfinals, and semifinals storming past Creamline, Al Naser, PLDT, and Nakhon Ratchasima.

Despite falling short in the second frame of the championship match — eventually, the Kazakhs' only set loss in the tournament — they avenged it by claiming the succeeding frame for themselves, as Thi Nhu Quynh Vi suffered an attack error and Valeriya Yakutina notched a kill block for a 2-1 lead, 25-23. Only a two-point game at 13-11 in the fourth canto, the Zhetysu side unleashed a pivotal 6-1 run to pull away from the Vietnamese, anchored on Daria Sharhorodska and Karyna Denysova's hits and Yakutina's kill blocks to go with several opposition errors for a 19-12 lead.

The Vietnamese could not recover from there as Yuliia Dymar put the Vietnam crew away with a title-clinching spike, 25-18. The Kazakhs overwhelmingly won the blocking department, listing 15 compared to the Vietnam team that only had two. They also had 10 service aces, while VTV Binh Dien Long An only had one in the match that lasted one hour and 27 minutes.

Denysova top-scored for her team, registering 23 points built on 21 attacks, one block, and one ace to go with 10 excellent digs and five excellent receptions. She was eventually hailed as Most Valuable Player and one of the Best Outside Hitters of the tournament. Tatyana Nikitina followed through with 16 points, while Yakutina concluded with 12 points including six kill blocks.

Meanwhile, Thailand's Nakhon Ratchasima won the bronze medal after a hard-fought 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19 victory over China's Beijing Baic Motor earlier in the day. Greek spiker Eva Chantava led Nakhon's offense by putting up numbers of 22 points on 19 attacks and three blocks, while Anyse Marlee Smith contributed 16 points on 14 attacks and two blocks.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com