21/02/2018 11:00
Dinamo KAZAN and Imoco Volley vie for fifth straight win in #CLVolleyW
2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, February 21, 2018. Dinamo KAZAN and Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO will be hoping to add a fifth straight victory to their tally on Wednesday night when they resume their campaign in the group stage of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women. They have a clean record in Pool C and B, respectively and as a result, they have been the dominant forces in their groups this far. The third match of another exciting #CLVolleyW night will feature ASPTT MULHOUSE VB and Volero ZÜRICH in Pool A, with the Swiss side hoping to make amends for the home loss they suffered earlier this season.
ASPTT MULHOUSE VB (FRA) vs. Volero ZÜRICH (SUI)
• ASPTT MULHOUSE VB and Volero know each other very well. They already crossed their ways several times in the Champions League before, and since then, they have played a number of friendly matches as well. ASPTT MULHOUSE VB beat Volero earlier this season before the Swiss team recorded a victory in a friendly game on January 11 in France.
• There is no room for friendship this time around. ASPTT MULHOUSE VB will try to repeat the result they achieved in Zurich earlier this season to claim their second victory in the pool. However, Volero will be looking for revenge.
• All conditions are there for an exciting matchup at Palais des Sports in Mulhouse.
Magali Magail, head coach of ASPTT MULHOUSE VB: “We are eager to offer a victory to our home fans in this competition. We have to play aggressively and with consistency, hoping that this will be enough to edge a team as strong as Volero.”
Léa Soldner, libero of ASPTT MULHOUSE: “We have been waiting for this home match with Volero for quite some time. We will be playing at home, in front of our supporters, and we will have to deliver a high-quality match against a great team such as Volero. We have been working on tactics this far and we are getting ready to put up a fight in order to be the eventual winners of this match.”
Hayley Spelman, opposite hitter of ASPTT MULHOUSE: “We need this victory in order to move forward in the Champions League; therefore, it is a big match for us. Both teams are going to come out strong and fight until the end. We are excited to battle it out for our first Champions League win at home.”
Avital Selinger, head coach of Volero: “This game is very important for us. It will decide about the top positions in the pool. Therefore, I expect a very tough match.”
Ana Antonijevic, team captain of Volero: “We have to win if we want to qualify for the Playoffs. We left the game, which we lost at home, behind us, and we are playing much better now. We have more confidence and I am sure that my team can claim another big victory.”
Agel PROSTEJOV (CZE) vs. Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO (ITA)
• The first matchup between these teams in Pool B ended in a 3-1 home victory for the Italian team.
• CONEGLIANO is now atop of the standings – they managed to storm back from 0-2 to 3-2 in both games against Fenerbahce SK ISTANBUL.
• Imoco is definitely in great shape this season. They have taken eight consecutive wins in the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women and they are leading the way in their national league as well. However, they suffered a 1-3 loss at the hands of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA in the Italian Cup finals this past weekend.
• On the other hand, PROSTEJOV are still waiting for their first victory in this year’s edition of Europe’s elite club competition. They have won only three sets so far.
• Agel might be pushed by their recent triumph in the Czech Cup and by the fact that they have not yet suffered a single defeat in the Czech Extraliga.
• Only middle blocker Nina Herelova is facing some health problems in the roster of the Czech champions. Is she going to play on Wednesday?
Miroslav Cada, head coach of Agel PROSTEJOV: “With respect to the overwhelming strength of CONEGLIANO and their results this season, the Italian team definitely have very good prospects to win. Despite this, we cannot give up and come to terms with a defeat in advance. Our last home match against NOVARA was not a perfect one on our side but it does not mean we have to get the same result. Every game is different and we must believe in a possible surprise. The important thing is to take advantage of those little chances we are going to get.”
Daniele Santarelli, head coach of Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO: “We are going to be strongly motivated to win this important clash after our weekend loss in the Italian Cup finals. We have been doing great so far in the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women, and we want to confirm our high quality in the away match against PROSTEJOV, even though our opponents are dangerous and they would love to claim their first win. This means we must prepare very carefully for the second matchup and deliver an outstanding performance.”
Dinamo KAZAN (RUS) vs. Chemik POLICE (POL)
• Dinamo KAZAN beat Chemik POLICE 3-0 earlier this season in Poland.
• These two teams crossed swords in the 2014-2015 season as well, scoring one victory each. Three players who contested those matches are still on the roster of Dinamo KAZAN. These are Evgeniya Startseva, Ekaterina Ulanova, and Elena Ezhova. Stefana Veljkovic and Agnieszka Bednarek-Kasza are still playing for Chemik POLICE.
• Dinamo KAZAN have already completed the regular season of the Russian national league and progressed to the Playoffs after topping the charts. Chemik POLICE have another eight rounds left before the end of the regular season of the Polish league.
• Last week, Chemik POLICE suffered a sensational 2-3 loss to Radomka RADOM – a team competing in a lower division – in the quarterfinals of the national cup. In December 2017, Dinamo KAZAN won the national cup of Russia.
• After the loss in the Polish Cup, Chemik POLICE parted ways with their head coach Jakub Głuszak. His assistant Piotr Matela now serves as interim head coach.
Irina Koroleva, player of Dinamo KAZAN: “We took many positive impressions from the first match with Chemik POLICE in Poland. This was a strong opponent. I believe that the second match will be even more interesting, because, over the past month and a half, the Polish team, for sure, must have somehow restructured their game. On top of this, the Champions League’s level is superior to that of the Russian championship; therefore, we hope that the upcoming game will be interesting for us and the fans as well.”
Alexander Perepelkin, assistant coach of Dinamo KAZAN: “Chemik is a good team. We have taken a very serious approach towards the game with this opponent. In the match we recently played in the quarterfinals of the Russian championship, we again played a perfect team game after the pause we had at the end of the regular season, when the games were not so tense. We hope that this game helped us prepare well for the matchup with Chemik POLICE.”
How to follow the matches...
Watch them live: http://cev.laola1.tv/
Click here for a comprehensive TV schedule.
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
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