Luxembourg, March 14, 2018. The Playoffs 12 of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men continued on Wednesday night with a truly exciting programme. The ‘Match of the Week’ lived up to everyone’s expectations as Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA came back from two sets down to pull out a 3-2 away victory over PGE Skra BELCHATOW to silence a 9,600-strong crowd at Atlas Arena in Lodz. Noliko MAASEIK claimed a sensational 3-0 home victory over Russia’s heavyweight Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK as VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN emerged victorious at the tiebreak from the eagerly anticipated German derby with the BERLIN Recycling Volleys. In the other derby of the day, Poland’s Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE beat domestic rivals JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel 3-1 to make it a step closer towards reaching the Playoffs 6. French sensation CHAUMONT VB 52 Haute Marne continued their spectacular campaign in the competition as, despite missing their superstar Stéphen Boyer, they recorded a dramatic 3-2 home win over three-time CL gold medal winners TRENTINO Diatec of Italy.

Noliko MAASEIK (BEL) vs. Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK (RUS) 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 30-28)

• Noliko MAASEIK posted a surprising 3-0 win in their first encounter with Pool C winners Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK. Yet it was a thrilling game, with each set being decided by the closest of margins each time: 25-23, 26-24, 30-28.
• In the first, Lokomotiv’s Marcus Nilsson and local spiker Kamil Rychlicki set up a close battle until 12-all, when Jay Blankenau and Dane Mijatovic created the first little home advantage with one ace apiece: 17-14. Jelte Maan punished ‘Loko’ for a couple of poor receptions and led his team over 22-17 and then to 24-19. Sergey Savin replied fiercely, but his all-risk serve gave Noliko the first set win at their fifth set point: 25-23. 
• After Noliko’s early five point run, the hosts established a 10-7 lead, Aleksey Rodichev levelled the set at 12-each. Again, a nerve-wracking fight unfolded. Aleksandr Tkachev’s serve put the Russians in the driver’s seat at 21-23 and 23-24, but Sebastian Gevert and Rychlicki created a huge surprise by turning things around to take the set: 26-24.
• The nearly 2,000 fans got completely excited when Gevert served his team to a 15-10 advantage and his substitute Jolan Cox added a kill block for a promising four-point gap at 21-17. Yet Savin and Nilsson were determined to avoid a harsh 3-0 loss when going up 22-23. Tkachev and Savin even saved four match points. However, in a dramatic finish, Lokomotiv’s coach Plamen Konstantinov didn’t agree with the ‘no-block’ result from the challenge system. He lost his temper so badly that the first referee had no choice: red card and 30-28.
• Despite topping the charts with 21 points, Sergey Savin couldn’t crown himself the match winner. This honour went to Kamil Rychlicki, who collected 17 points.
• In the return match next Wednesday (21 March), Noliko MAASEIK will need just two sets to secure their place in the Playoffs 6.
  

Marcus Nilsson of Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK commented: “This is not a good result at all for us. We hoped for a win here in Belgium. So losing in three sets is a disappointment, especially with this terrible finish. Yet, we have a big chance to take the win at home and play the Golden Set. I still believe we can take it.”

PGE Skra BELCHATOW (POL) vs. Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA (ITA) 2-3 (27-25, 28-26, 13-25, 22-25, 10-15)

•    A 2-0 lead in the match was not enough for Skra to edge the Italian powerhouse.
•    It was the 10th match featuring these two teams in history, with Cucine Lube having improved their record to six wins. However, Skra have claimed three of their four victories over Cucine Lube when playing away from home – which is a good omen for them ahead of next week’s rematch in Italy.
•    As many as 9,600 fans in attendance were full of joy after the opening two sets, where PGE Skra played close to perfection. However, the Italian champions showed great determination to come back to the match and win it in five sets.
•    PGE Skra line-up included Grzegorz Lomacz with the setter coming back from injury after over two months. He came back in style, giving his team much confidence. The distribution in the opening set was amazing as five PGE Skra players scored three or more points, while Tsvetan Sokolov (7) and Taylor Sander (5) were the only Cucine Lube players with more than one point to their name.  
•    Sander came back to the starting six of the visiting team and replaced Jiri Kovar, who had scored eight points last weekend in a Playoff match and 3-0 victory versus Wixo LPR PIACENZA.



•    Milad Ebadipour served an important ace, when the score stood at 23-23 in the first set. It was the very first match of the Iranian outside hitter in the play-off phase of the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Bartosz Bednorz, who blocked Osmany Juantorena, after another powerful serve by Mariusz Wlazly, scored the last point of the first set. It is worth mentioning that PGE Skra successfully finished 70% of their attacks in this set – with Cucine Lube registering a 59% success rate.
•    With the score standing at 20-17 in the second set for the Italian team, it looked like the visitors were going to draw level in the match. PGE Skra moved to a one-point gap after Wlazly’s ace, and claimed a set point after Sokolov and Dragan Stankovic attacked out of bounds. Sokolov was also the one who sent the ball into the net, thus making it 2-0 for PGE Skra. The hosts out-blocked their opponents 5 to 2 in this set.
•    After two very tight sets, where the score was very close from the beginning until the end, the third was a total domination by the Italian champions, led by Sokolov, who killed five out of six attacks. Four aces and four blocks meant an easy win (25-13) for Cucine Lube.
•    The players from CIVITANOVA took an early lead (4-1) in the fourth set. After a series of powerful serves by Osmany Juantorena (only eight points in the previous sets) and Stankovic’s attack, Skra coach Roberto Piazza had to take a time-out. There was no moment in that set when the nearly 10,000 fans in Atlas Arena may have had hope for a better result for the home team. Sokolov kept on scoring and setter Micah Christenson was playing better and better with every ball and in every aspect of the game.
•    A lot of controversy came when the score stood at 9-12 in the tiebreak and the referees accepted the challenge of the home team, claiming there was a net touch. The score moved from 9-13 to 10-12, but Giampaolo Medei’s team did not lose focus and closed the match with an ace of Sokolov and a block on Wlazly.
•    Tsvetan Sokolov was the best scorer of the match with 27 points (22/34 killed attacks). Juantorena added 14 and Stankovic 12 for the Italian team, while Mariusz Wlazly scored 19, Srecko Lisinac 17 and Bartosz Bednorz 16 times for the home side.