Luxembourg, February 27, 2019. Dinamo MOSCOW became the second team from Pool E to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men. The Russian powerhouse managed a straight-set win at TOURS VB, their fourth victory in the pool, enough to progress as one of the three best-ranked pool runners-up. Italy’s Sir Colussi Sicoma PERUGIA had already advanced to the next stage of the competition, but made sure they finish this one undefeated with a four-set home win over Turkey’s Arkas IZMIR.
TOURS VB (FRA) vs. Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 0-3 (23-25, 17-25, 31-33)
• For this last 2019 Volleyball Champions League match in Tours, 2,500 spectators came to the arena.
• French international Barthélémy Chinenyeze was not among TOURS VB’s starting seven.
• In the third set, after many set points were not converted by the home team, Dinamo MOSCOW won 33-31.
• Dinamo's spiker Dick Kooy was the best scorer of the match with 17 points.
Dick Kooy, outside hitter of Dinamo MOSCOW: “We won and it was important for the club to qualify.”
Floris van Rekom, outside hitter of TOURS VB: “It was difficult for us to win this match because we were already out of contention.”
Sir Colussi Sicoma PERUGIA (ITA) vs. Arkas IZMIR (TUR) 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 25-27, 25-16)
• Sir Colussi Sicoma PERUGIA’s serving made the difference in the first set and helped the hosts win by 25-21 with Filippo Lanza scoring the closing point.
• Some great blocking characterised the second set with Lorenzo Bernardi’s team scoring six points on that element (Fabio Ricci and Gianluca Galassi scored two each). Wilfredo Leon hammered the winning ace for 25-22.
• Arkas IZMIR fought back in the third set while Sir Colussi Sicoma made room for the reserve players. The score went back and forth before Adis Lagumdzija scored the last point for a 27-25 Arkas win.
• Sir Colussi Sicoma dominated the fourth set. The team immediately asserted itself thanks to the points scored by Nicholas Hoag and Sjoerd Hoogendoorn as both of them were perfect in attack. A serving error accounted for the last point of the match - 25-16 to the home side.
• 11 aces and 12 kill blocks for Sir Colussi Sicoma - these are the points that proved decisive for the final result.
• Sjoerd Hoogendoorn was the match MVP and top scorer with 20 points to his name.
Nicholas Hoag, outside hitter of Sir Colussi Sicoma PERUGIA: “We played fair tonight. We made very few mistakes and we showed our technical ability in the game. This was not a match we could lose, knowing our skills.”
Joâo Paulo Pereira Bravo, outside hitter of Arkas IZMIR: “We suffered the opponents’ serving. We were not able to control it. It is true that Perugia is Perugia, but we could have played a better game.”
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