Plovdiv, Bulgaria, October 19, 2017. The final match from the opening round of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women will take place tonight with the 2017 champions from Bulgaria, Maritza PLOVDIV, facing a team who are back in the competition after a couple of years out, LP SALO from Finland.

Wednesday’s media briefing took place in the cosy setting of an art gallery in Plovdiv’s revamped vibrant creative district Kapana to emphasise the important interconnection between Maritza’s participation in the European Cups and the fascinating recent growth in Plovdiv’s cultural life.

Maritza PLOVDIV

- This will be the second time Maritza PLOVDIV participate in the CEV Champions League. They are the first and only Bulgarian team to have played in the women’s Champions League.
- Last season Maritza eliminated Kosovo’s KV Drita GJILAN in the first round and then got knocked out of the competition by Turkey’s Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL, the then-reigning Club World Champions. Moving to the CEV Volleyball Cup, Maritza lost at Italy’s Unet Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO and, despite winning the re-match at home, ended their European Cups campaign.
- Later on they defended their national title in Bulgaria and recaptured the Bulgaria Cup trophy, winning each of them for the third time.
- Lora Kitipova, the Bulgarian national team setter, joined the squad as a last-minute addition before the start of the Champions League. Other players with solid national team experience, Desislava Nikolova and Kremena Kamenova, signed with the club earlier this summer. Some other players have returned to the team after a season’s absence – Tanya Petkova (formerly known as Sabkova), Silviya Andreeva, Mirela Shahpazova and Milena Dimova.
- Other than Lora Kitipova, three more of Maritza’s players were part of Bulgaria’s team at EuroVolley 2017 – Nasya Dimitrova, Zhana Todorova and Mariya Dancheva. The last two and Mirela Shahpazova were also part of the Bulgarian squad that earned bronze at the U23 World Championship, with libero Zhana Todorova making the Dream Team of the tournament.

LP SALO

- This will be the second time LP SALO play in the Champions League, following their debut in the 2015 edition, when they lost twice to each of their Pool C opponents – Russia’s Dinamo MOSCOW, Italy’s Unendo Yamamay BUSTO ARSIZIO and Germany’s DRESDNER SC.
- Last season, LP SALO played in the CEV Volleyball Cup, going past Croatia’s Mladost ZAGREB in the 1/32 Finals and being eliminated by compatriots HPK HÄMEENLINNA in the 1/16 Finals.
- Since 2008, the club has won the Finnish league title eight times and the Finland Cup seven times under the name LP Viesti. They are currently holding both domestic trophies.
- The LP SALO current squad features three players from Finland’s national team – Hillaelina Hämäläinen, Noora Kosonen and Ronja Heikkiniemi, as well as Kertu Laak from Estonia’s national team.

Quotes:

Radosveta Teneva, captain of Maritza PLOVDIV: “We are happy for the opportunity to represent Bulgaria in the Champions League for a second time. Our European Cup home games have always attracted great interest and crowded venues and I hope tomorrow makes no exception. We will once again rely on the support of the home crowd. It is our coach’s birthday today and we hope one of the gifts he gets from us is the victory tomorrow.”

Ivan Petkov, head coach of Maritza PLOVDIV: “Our opponents play good Volleyball. They rely on teamwork, fighting spirit and good defence. Sometimes they play very fast with few errors – all qualities that I respect. But hopefully our team will show a better level and will achieve a good result before the away game in Finland. I expect a quality match tomorrow.”

Elina Käsnänen, captain of LP SALO: “Plovdiv is a beautiful town. All the facilities are really nice. The food is good and the sun is shining! It is nice for us to be here because it has been raining now for a while in Finland. Of course, tomorrow we are going to play a tough game and we will fight for every point and every set.”

Janne Harju, assistant coach of LP SALO: “We are hoping for a good game with good-quality Volleyball. I think it will be a tight game between two good teams on the court. We watched Maritza on video and we saw that they have many high-quality players. It is hard to say which of them will start the match. The home team is always the favourite in such international games, but I believe in our team. I believe we will win, let’s say, 3-2 with 16-14 in the fifth set...”

How to follow the match...

Watch it live: http://cev.laola1.tv/

Live score, statistics, reports and photos: all available on www.cev.lu

Social Media: Follow via the official event hashtag (#CLVolleyW), with the most regular updates coming on our competition Twitter account @CEVolleyballCL

What`s next?

After the eventual winner is decided following the return leg next Wednesday, the team progressing will play Yenisei KRASNOYARSK from Russia in the 3rd Round.