25/01/2015 10:24
Home victory is the only goal as Austrian champions bid farewell to CL
2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Innsbruck, Austria, January 25, 2014. Austria’s champions Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK want to finish their campaign in this year’s CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men with a home victory in their final match up with Belgium’s rookies Precura ANTWERP coming up on Tuesday at the Olympiahalle. The Belgians, on the other hand, will be trying to upset the hosts as they are still in the race for a spot in the Playoffs 12.
“We unfortunately missed out on our chance to compete for second place in the pool after losing our away match with Jihostroj CESKE BUDEJOVICE last Wednesday,” says General Manager Hannes Kronthaler. “Still we want to show the strength and the abilities of our team once more in front of the home crowd and to finish this campaign on a victory. I know that we have the potential to do so.”
After Hypo Tirol lost to Jihostroj CESKE BUDEJOVICE on Wednesday, Precura ANTWERP secured second place in the pool and are still in contention for a spot in the Playoff round. The Tyroleans can therefore expect a very motivated and determined opponent on Tuesday night. As for the Austrian champions, the chances to continue their European journey as one of the teams that will move to the Challenge Round of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Cup are minimal but still alive. This is not the only boost of energy and motivation for the guys around head coach Stefan Chrtiansky since they also want to finish this year’s adventure in Europe’s elite competition with their heads up.
The previous match played in Antwerp was a close one and both teams stood a fair chance of seizing the night, before Precura eventually got the upper hand in four sets. The team captain of Hypo Tirol, Latvia’s Janis Peda, could not compete last Wednesday in Ceske Budejovice due to a slight calf injury and it is still to be determined if he will be available for the home match with Precura. The rest of the team is fit and eager to win another game in front of their fantastic fans.
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