Luxembourg, March 22, 2018. The home court has proven to be a great advantage in tonight's matches in the CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men. Both VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN and Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA had a 3-2 win from the previous match to build on, and there was no doubt this evening which teams would eventually qualify to the Playoffs 6. In the Match of the Week BERLIN Recycling Volleys came close to winning the second set, but it was never critical for Vital Heynen's team, who claimed their 34th straight victory this season. PGE Skra BELCHATOW came up short, according to BELCHATOW's coach Roberto Piazza, as CIVITANOVA showed greater technical abilities than the Polish side.
VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN (GER) vs. BERLIN Recycling Volleys (GER) 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22)
- Andreas Takvam had played as an outside hitter for the last 32 games. Vital Heynen put him back on his original middle blocker position against BERLIN and he still was in shape, this move resulting in 14 points and three blocks for the Norwegian player.
- In the first match in Berlin, the home team had out-blocked the opposition 16-8. Today the hosts overpowered BERLIN in blocking 11-2. Best blocker overall was Philipp Collin with five.
- 3,240 spectators came to ZF Arena to see the German derby against the BR Volleys. This is a new attendance record for the Häfler in this campaign.
- It’s the first time since 2012 that the Häfler have reached the Playoffs 6 of the CEV Volleyball Champions League.
- Top scorer for the home side was Athanasios Protopsaltis with 15 points, while on the side of BERLIN Paul Carroll scored 20 times.
Georg Klein, player of BERLIN Recycling Volleys: “We are really disappointed but they beat us with a great defence today. I think we will need two or three days to realise this. But at the moment it still sucks.”
Vital Heynen, coach of VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN: “I’m so proud of the team today. They played such good Volleyball and deserve it make it to the Playoffs 6. For me as the upcoming Polish national coach the game against Zaksa will be really really special now.”
Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA (ITA) vs. PGE Skra BELCHATOW (POL) 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-21)
- Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA had to win with any result to be sure to reach the Playoffs 6 phase, after defeating PGE Skra BELCHATOW last week in Lodz (3-2).
- The Italians immediately took control of the operations in the opening set, where they claimed a 22-14 lead thanks to services of Micah Christenson and attacks of the Bulgarian star Tsvetan Sokolov (8 points with 78% efficiency), who also did spike the ball that sealed the 25-17 win.
- The second set was a very close affair with the visitors edging ahead 4-1 courtesy of their great services. Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA got back on track to 9-9 and were able to claim the set 25-18.
- CIVITANOVA was constantly leading in the third set, in which the home libero Jenia Grebennikov performed spectacular defenses, and the hosts eventually secured a 25-21 win.
- Tsvetan Sokolov was the best scorer of the match with 17 points (12/20 killed attacks). Osmany Juantorena added 12 and Taylor Sander 10 for the Italian team, while Mariusz Wlazly was the top scorer for Skra with 10.
- In the next round of the competition, Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA will play an Italian derby against TRENTINO Diatec. The two teams previously met each other three times in the CEV Volleyball Champions League: in the 2009 and 2016 semis, and in the Playoffs 6 of the 2012 edition.
- Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA, bronze medallist of the 2016 and 2017 editions, were vying for a spot in the Playoffs 6 for the third straight season.
Giampaolo Medei, coach of Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA: “We are very happy about our qualification, it is very important for the club management and also for the team confidence. I think it was a high-level match from our side, as far as the performance is concerned. Only one more step is now missing to play the Final Four of this elite competition for the third time in a row. But in the Italian derby with TRENTINO we are expecting two difficult matches.”
Roberto Piazza, coach of PGE Skra BELCHATOW: “The best team won the ticket for the Playoffs 6, as CIVITANOVA tonight performed great Volleyball, showing all the technical gaps existing between our and their team.”
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