National champions women - part 4: eastern Europe

The domestic leagues have come to an end and we now look forward to the qualification and group matches draws of the 2014/15 Women's EHF Champions League. In four parts, ehfCL.com shine the spotlight on each of the teams who qualified for the next edition of Europe's top flight and their race for the ticket in their respective national competitions. The final part is dedicated to teams from eastern Europe - Russia, Romania and Belarus.

Russia – Dinamo-Sinara Volgograd

In the last few years the competition in the Russian championship is becoming more intense and although Dinamo is a regular feature in the finals, this year their opponents were the young Lada Togliatti squad.

The final series started in Volgograd and the first match brought lots of excitement when Dinamo took the lead after defeating Lada  in penalty shootout, but the surprise came when Lada managed to win the second match away 29:27.

After this the final moved to Toggliati, where the two games were shared, with the third match going in Dinamo’s favour 30:26 and Lada once more coming back in the fight for the throne, winning the fourth match 30:26.

The decisive match was played in Volgograd and Dinamo dominated the whole match from start to finish, giving Viktor Ryabih’s team the title and a place in Europe’s elite competition after missing out last season.

Romania - HCM Baia Mare

Reaching the EHF Champions League Group Matches for the first time in the club's history was a tremendous boost for HCM Baia Mare.

After a fall of the Oltchim empire, Baia Mare proved to be a worthy successor in the Romanian Liga Nationala.

They learnt their lesson from an early defeat at the hands of Corona Brasov in November and won all the remaining matches, paving the way to their maiden league laurels.

In the play-off they cruised past Zalau in two games with an aggregate score of plus 17 and swept both Corona and Dunarea Braila in the final group of the top three sides.

Meanwhile, the club management was already working on the roster bolstering for the next season signing two reigning world champions from Brazil - the All-star goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart and the 2012 World Handball Player of the Year Alexandra do Nascimento. Norwegian international left wing Camilla Herrem has also joined the club.

Belarus – BNTU

BNTU-BelAZ have kept the league title of Belarus safe in their hands since 2009 and this season was no different.

The absolute domination of this team started from the very beginning as they help top spot after the first phase of the championship.

The second phase saw the top four teams proceeded and once more BNTU-BelAZ proved their domination by winning 14 matches from 18, while 3 defeats and one draw did little to threaten their place at the top ahead of biggest rival Gomel.