Luxembourg, October 20, 2017. After a busy week we swing straight back into the women`s Champions League 2nd Round with the return fixtures of the matches played on Tuesday. With national champions from across Europe, along with the Silver medallists from last seasons Champions League in action some tough and exciting matches are pretty much guaranteed.
In the first leg, out of a possible maximum of 25 sets, we had 20 - giving more than enough reason to follow tomorrows matches from wherever you are in the world. All matches will be streamed on Laola1.tv so tune in and follow the action live.
For full information about this year's Champions League click here, while the line up for Saturday is confirmed as follows:
Developres SkyRes RZESZOW return home with sights firmly on place in 3rd Round - and making history!
After winning a close 3rd set in the first match, Hapoel KFAR SABA of Israel eventually lost the first match to the Polish team 3-1 and will travel north knowing they need to match or better the score from the match on Tuesday if they are to have any chance of progressing to the next Round where the winner will face Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO) or ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO (BIH).
Action from the first match with a super slide attack by Developres SkyRes RZESZOW:
Everyone from the Volleyball world has heard about the men`s team of Asseco Resovia RZESZOW - a big club with an even bigger history. But who knows that the season 2017/18 belongs to the women`s team from Rzeszów?
In May 2012, it was officially announced that a new club would be formed, which would compete in the group IV of the second league instead of Extrans-Patria Sędziszów Małopolski. The coach was Tomasz Kamuda, who was previously a Volleyball player, who had the general idea to create a team rooted in the local environment and collect young promising players.
In 2017 after three seasons in the ORLEN League they achieved a historic third position and got the chance to play in the Champions League. Thanks to the city of Rzeszów the club is ready to host their first guests - Hapoel KFAR SABA. “Last Tuesday was a very important and historic moment for our club when we played the first game in the Champions League 2nd Round. I hope that we move to the next round. Everything will be clear on Saturday, when we play the next game. We are inviting all of you to support us there!” said Katarzyna Zabinska, middle blocker from Developres SkyRes RZESZOW.
The Italian Panthers to face Linamar-BÉKÉSCSABAI RS KFT
Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO return on Saturday to play at Palaverde again in the Champions League six months after the Final Four held back in April where they finished runners up. Having dominated the first match (75 points to 31), the Italian team will be confident of reaching the 3rd Round in front of their home crowd. The winner will face the team coming from the tie Asterix Avo BEVEREN against SLIEDRECHT Sport.
"On Tuesday in Hungary we did not have any problems - said the libero of Imoco Volley, veteran player Monica De Gennaro - , we played a great game with strong service and effective attack, and we have started our season well. Saturday will be great for us to return to Palaverde after so long in front of our fans, our job is to do another good match and qualify without any problems."
Minchanka MINSK and Rocheville Le CANNET both striving to face the great VakifBank ISTANBUL
The return match will be held in the Sports complex "Uruchje" where a Volleyball match will take place for the first time in history. This hall, which seats 3,000 spectators, was opened after some significant restoration in 2016. The next day it will host a match in the 2nd round of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men between Shakhtior SOLIGORSK and Maccabi TEL-AVIV.
With Minchanka MINSK winning the first match in France they now need any kind of victory to progress. However, if Rocheville Le CANNET can win 3-0 or 3-1 they will progress. Should the match go to another tie-break and this time it go the way of the French side, it will require a golden set to determine the winner.
To see the full match preview click here
Asterix Avo BEVEREN (BEL) vs. SLIEDRECHT Sport (NED)
After a thrilling 3-2 (15-13 in the tie-break) Dutch victory earlier this week the match between the national neighbours is highly anticipated on both sides of the border. With the winner likely to face Italian giants Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO, both teams will be pushing hard for the 3rd Round.
The second game between Asterix Avo BEVEREN and SLIEDRECHT Sport will take place in the Edugo Arena of Oostakker near Ghent. The cooperation between the clubs from Beveren and Ghent is excellent, however, both teams are the competitors in the Belgian League where last year they played the final of the Belgian Cup.
The game between Asterix Avo and Sliedrecht Sport will be unpredictable and it was rightly voted as "match of the week(end)" and it will also be broadcasted live by local television TV Oost.
Above: SLIEDRECHT Sport Fleur SAVELKOEL celebrates
Part II of the “derby” as Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR face ZOK Bimal-Jedinstvo BRČKO
The 14-time Slovenian national champions from Maribor strode to the first match 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-22) and will be hoping for a comfortable ride again when they face the team from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We know game 2 will be harder, but we will not get distracted and we will do our best to ensure progress to Round 3. Our fans should give us additional support, so I am confident of our chances of progressing to Round 3 and compete with the best teams in Europe,” said Ela Pintar, middle blocker from Nova KBM Branik, who scored 10 points in the first game.
The winner will face Developres SkyRes RZESZOW or Hapoel KFAR SABA in the 3rd Round.
How to follow the matches...
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