International volleyball: Congliano, Scandicci advance; 33 kills for Galatasaray’s Eggleston

This is our weekly update on USA women playing professional volleyball around the world:

Italy

Conegliano and Scandicci both opened their best-of-three semifinal series with victories.

Conegliano beat Novara as Kathryn Plummer had 14 kills, hitting .565, and Kelsey Robinson Cook added 10 kills (.692) and an ace.

Scandicci swept rival Milano. Lindsey Ruddins came off the bench and had three kills. Haleigh Washington did not play. Dana Rettke appeared briefly as a sub for Milano but Kara Bajema did not play.

Avery Skinner’s and Chieri’s season ended in a four-set quarterfinal match to Novara. Skinner had 16 kills and a block, while Madi Kingdon Rushel had three kills and an ace.

Türkiye

The big line of the week was by Logan Eggleston, who had 33 kills, hitting .439, with two aces in a four-set win by Galatasaray over Nilufer. Her team will play for fifth place.

VakifBank was eliminated from title contention and will compete for third place after being swept by Eczacibasi. Chiaka Ogbogu had 10 kills (.714) and a block. Ali Frantti had six kills, while Jordan Thompson added three as a substitute.

Kuzeyboru will play Galatasaray for fifth place after beating Muratpasa in four sets. Sarah Parsons had 12 kills and an ace for Kuzeyboru, while Micaya White led Muratpasa with 12 kills and Stephanie Samedy added nine kills and an ace.

France

Nantes advanced to the semifinals with back-to-back sweeps of Marcq en Baroeul. Jaelyn Keene had seven kills (.600), three aces and two blocks in the first match and then seven kills and two aces in the second. Taylor Mims, who had 11 kills in the previous match, had 10, a block and an ace in the clincher. Tristin Savage had four aces, three kills, and three blocks for Marcq en Baroeul.

Nancy faces a fifth and deciding match after opening a two-game lead over the defending champions by beating Volero Le Cannet in four sets. Setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres was named MVP after having four kills and an ace. Katelyn Evans was the top scorer with 19 kills, an ace and a block. Breana Runnels added 12 kills, a block an an ace. Haylie Bennett had nine kills and two blocks, while Shayla Hoeft added five kills, two block and an ace.

Volero Le Cannet then swept. Evans was Nancy’s top scorer with 10 kills, three blocks and an ace. Bennett had 10 kills, two blocks and an ace. Hoeft had five…