Luxembourg, October 31, 2018. A roller-coaster five-setter did not suffice to determine the final winner of Wednesday’s earliest clash in the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men. Greece’s PAOK THESSALONIKI had to resort to a golden set to knock Turkey’s ISTANBUL BBSK out of the way to the third round. Serbia’s Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD shut out Bulgaria’s Neftohimic 2010 BURGAS at home to advance, while Germany’s United Volleys FRANKFURT won the first two sets at Posojilnica AICH/DOB to secure their spot in the next round, but then lost the next three to their Austrian opponents. ISTANBUL BBSK, Neftohimic 2010 and Posojilnica will continue their European journey in the 2019 CEV Volleyball Cup.


ISTANBUL BBSK (TUR) vs. PAOK THESSALONIKI (GRE) 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12); Golden Set 13-15

•    This was the second five-set match in the series, with PAOK winning the first leg and ISTANBUL winning the second.
•    PAOK’s better performance in attack led the visiting team to a 25-21 win of the first set.
•    ISTANBUL BBSK reacted with improved blocking to level the match with a 25-22 close of the second set, but not before the lead changed hands several times within the set.
•    It was PAOK’s turn to claim the next set and they did so dominating thoroughly, taking advantage of Javier Ernesto Jimenez Scull’s prolific spiking and the abundant errors on the other side of the net on the way to a 25-21 win.
•    The Greeks could not hold on to the three-point advantage they had in the fourth set. Playing with a lot of precision, the home side turned things around to a 25-22 outcome.
•    ISTANBUL’s blockers continued to dominate at the net in the fifth set and made the difference for a 15-12 tie-breaker victory.
•    Sub-in Metin Toy was the best scorer of the match with 21 points for the home side, while Javier Ernesto Jimenez Scull scored 19 times for PAOK.
•    A deciding Golden Set followed. The Greek team persevered through the tight battle to emerge with a 15-13 victory and a spot in the next round.
•    In the third round, PAOK will face Germany’s United Volleys FRANKFURT.




Posojilnica AICH/DOB (AUT) vs. United Volleys FRANKFURT (GER) 3-2 (20-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-15, 15-13)

•    The visiting team started out strong, the scoreboard showing 5-1 at the first time-out. United Volleys put a lot of pressure on their opponents, but Posojilnica were able to keep up with the German pace narrowing the gap down to 1 point at 10-11. The Austrians tried to show some more resistance, but as they were evidently struggling with their reception and blocking, United Volleys easily wrapped it up at 25-20.
•    Posojilnica came back strong in the second set leading the way 8-7, but later on, United Volleys set the pace once more – 20-13. The home side showed a great fighting spirit, but the German serves and attacks led to a 25-17 win and a 2-0 lead, enough to qualify for the third round of Europe’s elite club competition.
•    Having been knocked out of the tournament, the home team started playing without any pressure, found their rhythm again and eventually won the next three sets for a 3-2 comeback victory.
•    Home star Matej Kok finished the match with a personal tally of 17 points to become the top scorer of the night. Milija Mrdak scored 13 points for the German Champions League rookies.
•    A crowd of almost 1,000 fans came together at the Sportpark in Klagenfurt to support the Austrian team in the company of its official mascot Aido.
•    United Volleys’ next Champions League opponents are PAOK THESSALONIKI of Greece.



Martin Micheu, Sports Director of Posojilnica AICH/DOB: "We knew that United Volleys are very consistent at the moment. Congratulations to them and good luck in their matches of the next round! I hope we will fix our problems and perform better in the CEV Cup."

Stelio DeRocco, coach of United Volleys FRANKFURT: "We started the game very well. We did what we wanted and what we had planned. I am happy that we secured our ticket to the third round and I want to congratulate my entire team on our success."


Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD (SRB) vs. Neftohimic 2010 BURGAS (BUL) 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22)

•    After winning in five sets in Burgas, Vojvodina pleased the 1,500 spectators on the stands at home with a straight-set victory over the reigning national champions of neighbouring Bulgaria.
•    Many former national players from the golden Olympic generation attended the match.
•    Vojvodina were in control of the scoreboard throughout the first set. With some excellent serving from David Mehić, they cruised to a 25-17 win.
•    Neftohimic maintained a two-point lead in the middle part of the second set, but some prolific spiking by Dmytro Viietskyi and Lazaro Fundora Travieso resulted in a 25-22 win for Vojvodina.
•    Neftohimic attempted a comeback and had the advantage in the first half of the third set, but a five-point run for Vojvodina turned the course of the set on the way to another comfortable 25-22 and a 3-0 victory.
•    Dmytro Viietskyi was the best scorer of the match with 17 points for Vojvodina.
•    In the third round, Vojvodina will lock horns with France’s CHAUMONT VB 52 HM.



Dusko Nikolic, coach of Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD: "We can play better, but at this moment the result was important. We reached the third round. We had a good atmosphere and a lot of fun at the hall."

Nayden Naydenov, coach of Neftohimic 2010 BURGAS: "We are disappointed. We played better in the first match, but Vojvodina are a great team and I congratulate them."

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