27/03/2019 22:00
Belogorie complete collection of European titles!
2019 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Men
Belgorod, Russia, March 27, 2019. Russia’s standout Belogorie BELGOROD secured the only international title still missing from their collection as they routed rookies Vero Volley MONZA 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-19) to make amends for their 2-3 loss last week in Italy and claim the 2019 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Men crown. This accolade completes a full set of European titles to go with three from the CEV Champions League (2003, 2004 and 2014) and another two from the CEV Cup (2009 and 2018).
• Belogorie were the first Russian team to win the CEV Champions League and the FIVB Club World Championship. Now, they are the first Russian team to have a complete set of top honours from all international competitions and join an elite club of seven teams with a full collection of European titles.
• After losing 2-3 last week in Italy, the Russian ‘Lions’ went for a 3-0 or 3-1 victory to avoid the risks of a Golden Set. Belogorie came from behind in the first set after trailing 20-22 but John Gordon Perrin and Pavel Tetyukhin levelled the score at 22-all. Belogorie edged ahead at 23-22 and even though MONZA put up a fight, the hosts sealed their win at 27-25 following a mistake by Oleh Plotnytskyi.
• Supported by 5,000 fans, Belogorie secured a 9-2 lead in the second set, as they controlled the most dangerous players of MONZA, Plotnytskyi and Donovan Dzavoronok. Belogorie easily won the set before history repeated itself in the third where the ‘Lions’ had an early 5-point lead which they kept until the end.
• Belogorie team captain Denis Zemchenok scored 17 points, with Perrin adding 12 to the count of the Russians. Amir Ghafour scored 13 times for MONZA.
• Zemchenok received the award for the MVP of the finals.
The captain of Belogorie, Denis Zemchenok, receiving the MVP award from CEV Vice President and Treasurer Özkan Mutlugil
Slobodan Kovac, head coach of Belogorie BELGOROD: “The result of the first match in Italy was quite good for us. We knew that we would have to pressure the opponent with our service. Finally, it turns out that our service helped us a lot. We managed to keep the Italian reception away from the net, and therefore we were good at blocking. Congratulations to all of our players who showed great Volleyball tonight and won one more cup for this club.”
Paul Buchegger, player of Vero Volley MONZA, gold medal winner and MVP of last year’s finals with Bunge RAVENNA: “Unfortunately, we just played badly in attack and did not really get into the game. The block defense did work, but they put us under much pressure with the service. As a result, we could not play our game in attack. They had a real home advantage today with a cool crowd. Unfortunately, it was not enough this time but it was clear that it would be a tough game.”
Thomas Beretta, middle blocker and captain of Vero Volley MONZA: “We missed a few things tonight. They immediately started with the right motivation to win this game, and this did not quite work as much for us. The first set was the only one where we fought back. Afterwards, we lost something. Congratulations to them: they deserve this victory tonight. We wanted to bring the cup home and we believed in our chances, but it was not enough.”
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