10/01/2018 10:00
‘Match of the Week’ featuring Chemik and KAZAN headlines another exciting CL night
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, January 10, 2018. The group stage of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League continues on Wednesday with another three classy matches – featuring a good share of the world’s Volleyball elite. Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO will be chasing their second win in Pool B when hosting Agel PROSTEJOV while titleholders VakifBank ISTANBUL will be pursuing the same goal in Pool D when playing Poland’s Grot Budowlani LODZ. The real highlight will actually take place in Koszalin, Poland with the eagerly anticipated ‘Match of the Week’ between Chemik POLICE and Dinamo KAZAN of Russia.
Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO (ITA) vs. Agel PROSTEJOV (CZE)
• This is the second match in Pool B for both Imoco Volley and Agel PROSTEJOV.
• Back in December, the Italian ‘Panthers’ claimed the derby with Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (3-1) whilst PROSTEJOV lost 1-3 at home to Fenerbahce SK ISTANBUL.
• Imoco Volley are the silver medal winners from the last edition of the CEV Champions League – and have a record of five wins in as many matches in the 2018 edition of Europe’s elite club competition.
• Two female referees will officiate at the match – Helena Geldof of the Netherlands and Carole Hepp of Luxembourg together with a female CEV Supervisor, Natalia Kostulska of Poland.
• Imoco Volley have a record of 12 wins and only one loss in the Italian national league, where they sit in first place; they have also qualified for the Final Four of their national cup.
• Middle blocker Raphaela Folie, currently injured, will not be able to play on Wednesday night while soon will come an important addition to the Italian team, the new USA spiker Simone Lee (from Penn State University) that will replace in the roster Megan Easy, who is out for the entire season due to injury.
Kimberly Hill, player of Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO: “Our team is doing well, we have won many matches between the Italian national league and the Italian Cup, but we know that the Champions League matches are always very difficult and all the opponents we play are very strong. As for the match against Agel PROSTEJOV, we have to play a great game to win and keep our perfect record at Palaverde; the home matches are very important in a group of four teams.”
Miroslav Cada, head coach of Agel PROSTEJOV: “Imoco Volley is one of the strongest teams in Europe, we know the value of our opponents, but we are here to give our best and try to win this match. My team is doing well and we have all the players available, we expect a tough match and we will do everything to be ready to face a very strong team.”
Chemik POLICE (POL) vs. Dinamo KAZAN (RUS)
• The fixture due to take place in Koszalin is the ‘Match of the Week’.
• Chemik and Dinamo claimed their respective opening matches in Pool C, with POLICE downing Vizura RUMA 3-0 and Dinamo KAZAN achieving the same result in their away match with Maritza PLOVDIV.
• Shortly before playing Dinamo, Chemik POLICE recorded a 3-2 victory over the current leaders of the Polish national league, Grot Budowlani LODZ.
Jakub Głuszak, head coach of Chemik POLICE: “I think that Dinamo represent our toughest opponent in the group stage, this is quite obvious. They have great quality in first line, and a number of very strong players. There is only one solution to this situation – we need to play our best. In that case, we are able to compete on the same level.”
Malwina Smarzek, opposite hitter of Chemik POLICE: “The match we just had with LODZ was a very difficult game, but maybe it’s good. I think that such a close game was necessary before our upcoming clash with Dinamo. We need to be prepared for such strong spikes and such a high block. If we are able to stand such a challenge, the game can go either way.”
Izabela Belcik, team captain of Chemik POLICE: “The first step towards a good result is to serve well. That could change everything, and settle the entire game. We simply have to push them away from the net, and then we can try to play our block-defence system.”
VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Grot Budowlani LODZ (POL)
• VakifBank ISTANBUL claimed as many as four titles in 2017 – the CEV Volleyball Champions League, the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship, plus the Turkish national cup and Turkish Supercup
• VakifBank star player Zhu Ting has scored as many as 50 points across nine sets in the CEV Champions League this season.
• VakifBank lost their last match at home – to RC CANNES (1-3) – on December 11, 2014.
• VakifBank can boast a winning streak of 15 straight matches in the CEV Champions League.
Lonneke Slöetjes, player of VakifBank ISTANBUL: “Shortly before the holiday season we had a pretty tough match against Galatasaray. We won 3-1 but that was a truly amazing match and we played it in a great atmosphere. The next match against LODZ will be again very interesting. We do not have any weak teams in our group. Therefore, we will have to fight again and go out very strong. We are VakifBank, and we always want to win every competition we contest.”
Giovanni Guidetti, head coach of VakifBank ISTANBUL: “In our group every match is a key match. We cannot make any mistakes. If we want to be first in our group, and this is what we want, we have to fight for every ball. Therefore, every match has the same importance. We are looking forward to playing against LODZ, which has been doing great in the Polish national league. They did not play that well their first match with Dinamo MOSCOW, so they will come to Istanbul with great expectations.”
How to follow the matches...
Watch them live: http://cev.laola1.tv/
Live score, statistics, reports and photos: all available on www.cev.lu
Click here for a comprehensive TV schedule.
Social Media: Follow via the official event hashtag (#CLVolleyW) with the most regular updates coming on our competition Twitter account @CEVolleyballCL
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