17/10/2018 20:26
ISTANBUL BBSK, PAOK, CHAUMONT, Vojvodina, Posojilnica, United Volleys, CV TERUEL through to #CLVolleyM 2nd Round
2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Luxembourg, October 17, 2018. ISTANBUL BBSK, PAOK THESSALONIKI, CHAUMONT VB 52 HM, Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD, Posojilnica AICH/DOB and rookies United Volleys FRANKFURT will continue their journey in the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men after on Wednesday they got the job done in the repeat of their respective first-round fixtures against opponents from Finland, Hungary, Norway, Croatia, Netherlands and Belarus, respectively. CV TERUEL lost 0-3 to Lindemans AALST but the Spaniards claimed the all-important Golden Set to stay alive in the competition as well. These seven teams join Bulgaria’s Neftohimic 2010 BURGAS who qualified for the 2nd Round on Tuesday night already. The losers of the first-round double headers, on the other hand, will resume their European campaign in the 2019 CEV Volleyball Cup that is set to begin later this fall.
ISTANBUL BBSK (TUR) vs. Ford Store Levoranta SASTAMALA (FIN) 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-16)
• This match and especially the eventual outcome with a 3-1 victory for the home team were the perfect way to celebrate the first international event held at the brand-new Hidayet Turkoglu Sports Hall owned by ISTANBUL BBSK.
• More than 1,000 fans came together to root for ISTANBUL BBSK.
• Baturalp Burak Güngör top scored for ISTANBUL BBSK with 16 points and an impressive 62% success rate in attack. Gökhan Gökgöz and Metin Toy added another 15 points each to the tally of the home team.
• Arvis Lamont Greene registered 17 points for SASTAMALA in their losing effort.
• ISTANBUL BBSK will be playing PAOK THESSALONIKI in the next round of the competition while the Finns will move to the draw of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Cup.
Metin Toy, player of ISTANBUL BBSK: “We started the game very well. We did what we wanted and had planned. We played against a good team. I am happy that we won the game. I thank all my fans who came to support us today and I want to congratulate my entire team on our win.”
Hakan Özkan, coach of ISTANBUL BBSK: “We are satisfied only with the result, not with the way we played. We did some good things but at the same time, we made also some terrible mistakes. It is our second victory in a row, so it is good. We are through to the next round. I hope that we will play better in the next round.”
Radovan Gacic, coach of Ford Store Levoranta SASTAMALA: “We knew that ISTANBUL BBSK are very consistent at the moment. They were stable in all elements of the game. Congratulations to them and good luck for their matches in the next round of the Champions League. I hope we will fix our problems and to perform better in the CEV Cup.”
PAOK THESSALONIKI (GRE) vs. VRCK KAZINCBARCIKA (HUN) 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-19)
• PAOK THESSALONIKI had little trouble to edge absolute beginners VRCK KAZINCBARCIKA, the first-ever Hungarian team to compete at the #CLVolleyM. The final result (3-0 sets) meant that VRCK KAZINCBARCIKA will not continue their journey in Europe’s most prestigious club competition, while PAOK will now face Turkey’s ISTANBUL BBSK in the 2nd Round.
• PAOK caught a flying start to the first set and managed to get an early lead (8-3), as Ivan “La Bomba” Marquez was too strong for the blockers of the Hungarian team. Based on their powerful service, the hosts maintained a comfortable margin throughout the rest of the set, which ended 25-16 after a missed service by Péter Blazsovics.
• The visitors tried to resist in the beginning of the second set, but eventually had no answer to the Greek team’s arsenal: Mitar Tzourits and his unstoppable serves led PAOK to a rally, which moved the score to 18-8. Tzourits himself wrapped it up with a difficult spike, to make it 25-12.
• VRCK KAZINCBARCIKA led 6-4 into the third set, much to the joy of their few but enthusiastic fans, however the Greeks stroke back with no less than eight points in a row, made it 12-6 and weren’t threatened until the final 25-19, produced by Aleksandar Okolic’s fast-tempo attack.
• Freshly arrived Cuban outside hitter Javier Jimenez Scull, who has returned to PAOK this season after a successful two-year spell (2014/15 and 2015/16), attended the match from the stands and is expected to make soon his debut under Sergiu Stancu’s guidance.
• Some 1,100 PAOK fans of all ages were present at PAOK Sports Arena; they made quite some noise and enjoyed their team’s victory in the grand European opening of the new season in Thessaloniki.
• The best scorer was Mitar Tzourits, with a total of 19 points for PAOK THESSALONIKI, while David Szabo scored 11 for VRCK KAZINCBARCIKA.
Sergiu Stancu, head coach of PAOK THESSALONIKI: “I am very happy with the way we played. When you perform well, the result always is a positive one. In both matches, we did our job and now we will think about the next rival. I am very happy with the way my players are training every day, they are a very professional team and I am sure that we will play equally well in the following matches or even better.”
Marek Kardos, head coach of VRCK KAZINCBARCIKA: “We didn’t fulfill our tactical task, at all. We had an extremely bad reception and we cannot be successful against this kind of rivals without good reception. We are just having two months of work here, we are at the beginning of our work and in time our young guys will improve.”
United Volleys FRANKFURT (GER) vs. Shakhtior SOLIGORSK (BLR) 2-3 (25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 18-25, 19-21)
• United Volleys celebrated a successful #CLVolleyM home premiere as they took the two sets they needed following their 3-0 away victory in Belarus to secure a ticket to the next round.
• Some 820 fans attended the match at Fraport Arena in Frankfurt, where the hosts sealed the deal after winning two sets with the help of Milija Mrdak and Moritz Karlitzek.
• Shakhtior showed much fighting spirit, but the German block and some well-timed aces brought a 2-0 lead to the home team, enough to qualify for the 2nd Round of Europe’s elite club competition.
• The reserve players of the United Volleys took to the court afterwards but they failed to capitalise on as many as seven match points in the tiebreak, so Shakhtior bid farewell to the competition with the consolation of a 3-2 away win.
Stelio DeRocco, head coach of United Volleys FRANKFURT: “Our goal was to secure our participation in the next round in our first CL season. Of course, we wanted to win but also give everyone the chance to play. So, third, fourth and fifth set were more about helping our young players to grow.”
Viktar Beksha, head coach of Shakhtior SOLIGORSK: “After two matches, it becomes clear that the United Volleys were the better team and deserved to make it to the next round. Their young setter and libero made the difference.”
CHAUMONT VB 52 HM (FRA) vs. Viking TIF BERGEN (NOR) 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-8)
• CHAUMONT VB 52 HM claimed their second straight 3-0 victory over Norway’s national champions Viking TIF BERGEN, who were making this year their historic debut in the CEV Volleyball Champions League.
• USA middle blocker Taylor Averill, playing this season for CHAUMONT VB 52 HM, could celebrate a successful #CLVolleyM premiere after winning bronze at the FIVB Men’s World Championship only a couple of weeks ago.
• CHAUMONT VB 52 HM move to the 2nd Round where they will be playing Spain’s CV TERUEL. This will be their next duty since there is no national league match scheduled for the coming weekend.
Michael Saeta, player of CHAUMONT VB 52 HM: “We are obviously happy to have won this match and qualified for the next round. It was important for us to win after our defeat in the national championship; it is good for the mind-set and psychology of the team.”
Ivar Bakken, head coach of Viking TIF BERGEN: “It is a disappointing result for us, especially in the way we lost. We were not resistant enough and they succeeded in stopping us. Their shoulders were too powerful for us and we could not block them often enough to hope for a better result.”
Posojilnica AICH/DOB (AUT) vs. Abiant Lycurgus GRONINGEN (NED) 2-3 (20-25, 26-24, 25-19, 19-25, 15-17)
• Abiant Lycurgus GRONINGEN claimed a 3-2 away victory in the second matchup with Posojilnica AICH/DOB but the Austrians can proudly look forward to the 2nd Round of the competition where Germany’s United Volleys FRANKFURT are awaiting them. They needed to take two sets from this game to secure their progression as last week they had stormed to a 3-0 away victory in the Netherlands.
• The visitors started out strong, the scoreboard showing 8-6 at the first technical time-out. GRONINGEN put a lot of pressure on their opponent (19-15), but AICH/DOB were able to keep the Dutch pace narrowing the gap down to 1 point (18-19). The Austrians tried to show some more resistance, but as they were struggling with their serve and reception, Abiant Lycurgus easily wrapped it up at 25-20.
• AICH/DOB came back strong in the second set leading the way 8-7, as both teams showed eager determination to pocket this set (15-15) resulting in a thrilling neck-to-neck race (23-23) with many great rallies; the Austrian champions finally won the set by 26-24 .
• The locals stretched that momentum into the early stages of the third set by pressuring their Dutch opponent from the attack line, leading 8-5 at the first technical time-out. GRONINGEN tried to keep the score in balance (16-16), but AICH/DOB set the pace once more. Their 25-19 win in the third set was enough to secure a spot in the next round of the competition.
• Later on, unnecessary errors on both sides marked the fourth and fifth set with the better ending for the Dutch champions as they wrapped it up at 25-19 and 17-15, respectively.
• Home star Matej Mihajlovic finished the match with a personal tally of 21 points to become the top scorer for the hosts. Wytze Kooistra scored 15 points for the reigning Dutch national champions, as they had to be content with a rather meaningless 3-2 victory.
• A crowd of 1,578 fans came together at Sportpark Klagenfurt in order to quake the hall together with AICH/DOB’s official mascot “AIDO”.
Posojilnica AICH/DOB Manager Martin Micheu: “At the start, we were a bit shy in our actions. The opponent had good defence and serving skills. However, we got back on track and could control set two and three, which was enough to reach the 2nd Round of the Champions League where another mighty opponent is awaiting us.”
Arjan Taaij, head coach of Abiant Lycurgus GRONINGEN: “I think it was a missed opportunity. We won this game, but could not reach the 2nd Round of the Champions League, so in the end we are more than disappointed.”
Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD (SRB) vs. Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 28-26)
• After a hard-fought 3-2 away victory last week in Croatia, Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD needed ‘only’ four sets at home to claim the repeat of the ‘derby’ with Mladost ZAGREB.
• Vojvodina’s Ukrainian-born player Dmytro Viietskyi top scored with 18 points as Kruno Nikacevic registered 20 for Mladost in their losing effort.
• The matchup was some kind of a historic one – the first featuring Vojvodina and Mladost held in Novi Sad since the 1990-1991 edition of the former Yugoslavia’s national league. Back then, Vojvodina had secured a 3-0 victory.
• Dusko Nikolic made his European debut as the head coach of Vojvodina.
• In the next round, Vojvodina will play Bulgaria’s Neftohimic 2010 BURGAS in another Balkan derby.
Dusko Nikolic, head coach of Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD: “The most important thing is the victory. Mladost played better than they did in Zagreb last week. We have to work on our defence game because we played almost only with our attack. However, I am happy with the result and we will continue to work hard.”
Radovan Malevic, head coach of Mladost: “Congratulations to Vojvodina. I wish them all the best and hope they will be able to play in the group stage of the Champions League.”
Lindemans AALST (BEL) vs. CV TERUEL (ESP) 3-0 (34-32, 25-21, 25-21); Golden Set 7-15
• Lindemans AALST bounced back from their 0-3 loss at the hands of CV TERUEL last week in Spain to record a 3-0 home victory.
• However, the reigning Spanish national champions claimed the winner-takes-it-all Golden Set (15-7) to secure their spot in the next round of the competition where they will be playing France’s CHAUMONT VB 52 HM.
• Patryk Strzezek scored 23 points for Lindemans AALST, as Andres Villena piled up 22 points for CV TERUEL
• It is a truly important result for the Spaniards, who are contesting Europe’s elite club competition for the first time after a break of three years.
Dries Hoeyberghs, assistant coach of Lindemans AALST: “We deserved the 3-0 win but a little relaxation at the beginning of the Golden Set and an outstanding Andres Villena eventually brought us to the CEV Cup.”
Miguel Rivera, head coach of CV TERUEL: “We are really happy about our qualification to the next round. It was a tough game and we did not manage to find answers to the tactical plan of Lindemans AALST. In the deciding set we played our best level at the crucial moment.”
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