17/10/2017 11:47
Historic Champions League matchup coming up in Kfar Saba
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Kfar Saba, Israel, October 17, 2017. The women’s national champions of Israel, Hapoel KFAR SABA, aka ‘The Greens’, are making on Tuesday night their first-ever, historic appearance in the CEV Volleyball Champions League when hosting Developres SkyRes RZESZOW before the re-match follows on Saturday in Poland. There are some interesting facts about this match, which will take the ultimate Volleyball show to a passionate audience and feature some world-class players as well.
Hapoel KFAR SABA
- Hapoel KFAR SABA are Israel’s reigning national champions.
- Noah Erez, Adi Ben-Haim, Anna Velikiy, Chen Abramovich and former team captain Galit Devash have all stayed on from last season.
- The Israeli club have signed a few foreign players, namely Brazilian opposite Angelica Da Pena Correa – who is spending her first season abroad, and Japan’s Ayumi Nakamura – while Brazilian setter Marcela Correa Goncalves is spending her second year with Hapoel.
Developres SkyRes RZESZOW
- Established in 2012, this team made history when finishing third in the last edition of the Polish national league, their best result to date – in only their sixth appearance in the competition.
- Their roster includes a couple of elite Serbian players, namely Adela Helic and Jelena Blagojevic. Only two weeks ago, Blagojevic won gold at the 2017 women’s EuroVolley with the Serbian national team.
- Belgium’s Hélène Rousseaux is another standout player with much experience featuring on the roster of the Polish Champions League rookies.
Quotes
Chen Himmelfarb, head coach of Hapoel KFAR SABA: “We are very excited ahead of our historic debut in this prestigious competition. We have a huge challenge ahead in playing this strong Polish team and we will have to find a way to stop them by using our block and defence, as well as by putting much pressure with our serve. I invite all sports fans in Kfar Saba and across Israel as well to come and experience the Champions League first-hand, since we have an exciting matchup coming up tonight.”
Anna Velikiy, team captain of Hapoel KFAR SABA: “I am happy to participate in the Champions League, and it will be fun to play and the experience of a lifetime.”
Dan Shiray, Marketing and Press Manager at the Israel Volleyball Association: “I am very happy that Israeli teams are participating in the CEV Volleyball Champions League for the second straight year. Such participation is a great complement to the promotion of Volleyball in Israel and serves as an incentive for young players to reach out for their dream.”
What’s next?
The eventual winners of this fixture will play ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Slovenia’s Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR in the third round. The Bosnian team are multiple national champions and have swept all domestic trophies these past three years – and have dropped only two national titles since 2007. As for MARIBOR, they are the reigning Slovenian national league champions and national cup winners – with 14 national league titles to their name.
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