02/07/2015 21:29
DOL sets tone for another record-breaking season, fans can look forward to ‘ultimate Volleyball experience’!
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men & Women
Vienna, Austria, July 2, 2015. The 2016 edition of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League got officially started on Thursday night with the Drawing of Lots that determined the composition of the preliminary pools for the League Round that is set to get underway on October 27 and November 3 for women and men, respectively. 28 men’s and 24 women’s teams as well as their respective fans can’t wait to start the quest for making it to the last and most exciting stage of Europe’s flagship competition with the Final Four tournaments scheduled for April next year set to provide the real climax of another record-breaking season.
The DOL was held on Thursday night at the Redoutensaal of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna in conjunction with the annual European Volleyball Gala co-hosted by the CEV and the Austrian Volleyball Federation and was preceded by the presentation of the official Champions League anthem. Once again the eventual winners of this elite competition will get the right to represent Europe in the 2016 edition of the FIVB Club World Championships.
Click here for a comprehensive picture gallery of the 2015 European Volleyball Gala
The 24 teams participating in the women’s competition were drawn first after being pre-seeded as per the latest European Cups Ranking List. The composition of the six preliminary Pools reads as follows:
Pool A: Dinamo KAZAN (RUS), Lokomotiv BAKU (AZE), Allianz MTV STUTTGART (GER), Azerrail BAKU (AZE)
Pool B: VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR), PGE Atom Trefl SOPOT (POL), Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (ITA), Calcit KAMNIK (SLO)
Pool C: Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL (TUR), Chemik POLICE (POL), Pomì CASALMAGGIORE (ITA), Agel PROSTEJOV (CZE)
Pool D: Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG (RUS), RC CANNES (FRA), Volero ZÜRICH (SUI), Vizura BEOGRAD (SRB)
Pool E: Fenerbahce SK ISTANBUL (TUR), Telekom BAKU (AZE), DRESDNER SC (GER), Impel WROCLAW (POL)
Pool F: Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS), Rocheville LE CANNET (FRA), CS Volei Alba BLAJ (ROU), Nordmeccanica PIACENZA (ITA)
A detailed match programme will be made available on Friday on the CEV website.
After a double round robin accounting for 72 matches in total, the 1st and 2nd placed teams of each pool score will qualify for the Playoffs 12. The League Round of the women’s competition will start on October 27 and come to an end on January 27, 2016. The winners of the Playoffs 12 will then move on to the Playoffs 6 and vie there for a spot in the Final Four tournament which is due to take place on April 9-10, 2016.
Turkey’s Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL, the reigning European and world champions, will be trying to retain their crown starting their campaign playing the hosts of last year’s Final Four tournament, Poland’s Chemik POLICE, Italy’s champions and CL rookies Pomì CASALMAGGIORE and Czech multiple champions Agel PROSTEJOV.
The 28 teams participating in the men’s competition were the next to be drawn across the seven preliminary pools of the League Round whose composition reads as follows:
Pool A: Belogorie BELGOROD (RUS), Arkas IZMIR (TUR), BERLIN Recycling Volleys (GER), Marek Union-Ivkoni DUPNITSA (BUL)
Pool B: Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS), PARIS Volley (FRA), VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN (GER), Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA (TUR)
Pool C: TRENTINO Diatec (ITA), TOURS VB (FRA), PAOK THESSALONIKI (GRE), Noliko MAASEIK (BEL)
Pool D: Zenit KAZAN (RUS), Halkbank ANKARA (TUR), Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (AUT), Budvanska Rivijera BUDVA (MNE)
Pool E: Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA (ITA), Knack ROESELARE (BEL), Dukla LIBEREC (CZE), PGE Skra BELCHATOW (POL)
Pool F: MODENA Volley (ITA), Lotos Trefl GDANSK (POL), ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO), Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD (SRB)
Pool G: Asseco Resovia RZESZOW (POL), Volley behappy2 ASSE-LENNIK (BEL), Tomis CONSTANTA (ROU), #Dragons LUGANO (SUI)
A detailed match programme will be made available on Friday on the CEV website.
The men’s League Round will get underway on November 3 and come to a close on January 26, 2016; after a double round robin, the 1st placed team of each pool as well as the five 2nd placed with the best score will continue their adventure in the Playoffs 12. The three winners of the Playoffs 6 will then join the hosts of the Final Four tournament which is scheduled for April 16-17, 2016.
Last year’s champions Zenit KAZAN will find in Halkbank ANKARA – the silver medallists from the 2014 edition – a very challenging opponent right from the League Round for two matches that will be a remake of the classy games these same teams played in the Playoffs 6 of the 2015 season.
“The Drawing of Lots set the tone for another record-breaking season and the race for a spot in the Playoffs is going to be an exciting one right from the outset of the League Round,” CEV President André Meyer said. “Once again the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League will provide all fans with the real, ‘ultimate’ Volleyball experience as this competition combines the actions of the world’s best players with an aura that knows no equals on the international Volleyball scene. We just can’t wait for the League Round to start later this fall.”
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