10/11/2017 16:42
Highly coveted ticket to CL group stage at stake as eight teams take to the court
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, November 10, 2017. There is a lot at stake on Saturday when eight teams take to the court again for a remake of the fixtures they contested on Tuesday. The eventual winners of these four double-headers will secure their progression to the pool phase of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women and join another 12 elite sides, which are waiting there to start the most exciting stage of the competition. VakifBank ISTANBUL, Yenisei KRASNOYARSK, Developres SkyRes RZESZOW and Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO will be trying to use the home-court advantage to repeat the victories they achieved while playing on the road some four days ago. Click here for a comprehensive TV schedule.
VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Minchanka MINSK (BLR)
• VakifBank have won the CEV Volleyball Champions League as many as three times in seven years (2011, 2013 and 2017).
• On top of this, they are two-time club world champions (2013 and 2017).
• VakifBank are on a streak of 11 straight wins in the CEV Volleyball Champions League, which started on December 14, 2016.
• On Tuesday, VakifBank won the first matchup with Minchanka 3-0. Their Chinese star player Zhu Ting top scored with 18 points.
Gözde Kirdar, team captain of VakifBank: “We delivered a very good performance in the first game. Of course, there were moments when we struggled against an opponent, which we did not know. This match is very important for us to get into the group stage of the Champions League. We will do our best. We expect many fans to come and support us on Saturday.”
Giovanni Guidetti, head coach of VakifBank ISTANBUL: “Although we won the first game 3-0, we have to be careful in the re-match. The result of the match in Belarus may let people think it was an easy victory but we were pushed hard in the first set. We should not lose our focus in the second game. The first game may have ended 3-0 but if we want to participate in the group stage of the Champions League, we have to win this match too.”
Yenisei KRASNOYARSK (RUS) vs. Maritza PLOVDIV (BUL)
• After debuting in the European Cups last season, when they reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, Yenisei are making their first, historic appearance in the CEV Volleyball Champions League.
• Maritza PLOVDIV are competing in the Champions League for the second straight season – last year they lost in the second round to eventual bronze medal winners Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL of Turkey.
• This match is the first Champions League fixture to take place in the city of Krasnoyarsk, in the Russian Far East – which lies six hours ahead of the standard Central European Time.
• Yenisei finished third in the last edition of the Russian national league, thus taking one of Russia’s three spots in the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women.
• On Tuesday night in Bulgaria, Yenisei came back from two sets down to emerge victorious at the tiebreak.
Alexander Koshkin, head coach of Yenisei KRASNOYARSK: “Maritza PLOVDIV have a very good team. While playing at home, they showed wonderful Volleyball, with terrific blocks, good defence and attack. In the first match, we went down 0-2, but we managed to change the course of the game. It is difficult to say, what is going to happen in the second leg, but we will try to achieve the best possible result.”
Developres SkyRes RZESZOW (POL) vs. Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (SLO)
• After a hard-fought 3-1 victory in Slovenia, Developres SkyRes are hosting Slovenia’s national champions. This is their second CL home match after in the previous round they beat Hapoel KFAR SABA of Israel.
• Iza Mlakar scored an amazing 31 points for MARIBOR at home.
• Developres SkyRes are committed to making history for women’s Volleyball in Rzeszow by qualifying for the group stage of the CEV Volleyball Champions League on the same day Poland celebrate their Independence Day.
Samo Miklavc, head coach of Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR: “In the first game we had some chances to surprise our opponent. The team had a good approach and we want to start the same way in the second match in order to fight for a positive result.”
Lorenzo Micelli, head coach of Developres SkyRes RZESZOW: “We are happy because of our victory in Maribor, but we know that this is not enough to get into ‘Best 16’. We have to improve our game and give our best on Saturday; we need one more step to achieve a historic feat for women’s Volleyball in our city.”
Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO (ITA) vs. SLIEDRECHT Sport (NED)
• After their 3-0 victory on Tuesday in the Netherlands, Imoco Volley are only two sets away from progressing to the pool stage of the competition.
• The Italian ‘Panthers’ stormed to a comprehensive 3-0 victory despite missing key players such as Megan Easy and Samanta Fabris, who will not take to the court on Saturday night either.
• Nevertheless, Imoco Volley can count on many good players to repeat the same result they achieved in the Netherlands.
Robin de Kruijf, middle blocker of Imoco Volley who scored nine points, including three blocks on Tuesday: “We won the first match but we did not play such a good game there in the Netherlands. We made too many mistakes and we must change this for Saturday’s game. We must improve and be aggressive from start to end to show our fans what this team is capable of doing.”
How to follow the matches...
Watch them 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?
The eventual winners of the third-round fixtures will progress to the pool stage of the competition, with the Drawing of Lots due to take place on November 17, 2017 in Moscow.
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