25/02/2019 21:00
D-Day has come as #CLVolleyW pool stage ends with a bang!
2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Women
Luxembourg, February 25, 2019. This is the night! As many as 10 matches will be taking place on Tuesday to complete the pool stage of the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Women and determine which teams continue their journey in the quarterfinals. VakifBank, Eczacibasi VitrA, Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA and Savino Del Bene SCANDICCI have already secured their spot in the next round – but another four spots are up for grabs as the world’s Volleyball elite fight for the right to contest the historic Super Finals due to take place on May 18 in Berlin. Follow all of the matches on EuroVolleyTV and look out for live updates on social media using the official hashtag #CLVolleyW!
Pool A
VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. BEZIERS VB (FRA)
• VakifBank have won 27 matches in a row in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Their last setback in the competition dates back to April 2016 when VakifBank lost the gold medal match to Pomi CASALMAGGIORE of Italy.
• VakifBank have won 36 of their last 37 matches in the competition.
• VakifBank have won four out of five matches in Pool A without dropping a single set.
• Earlier this season, they beat BEZIERS VB 3-0 in France.
• VakifBank have already secured first place in Pool A and with it, a spot in the quarterfinals.
Giovanni Guidetti, head coach of VakifBank: “There are some very good teams in the CEV Champions League like SCANDICCI, NOVARA, CONEGLIANO and Eczacibasi. Fenerbahce have strengthened their roster after transferring Dobriana Rabadzhieva. We have to work hard to get to the Super Finals in Berlin. We should prepare better and better for every game. Moreover, we will prepare ourselves with the same motivation for the matchup with BEZIERS VB.”
Melis Gürkaynak, captain of VakifBank: “We played a tough game last week against Allianz MTV STUTTGART. They had a very good defence. We played a good game against BEZIERS VB in France earlier this season. It was a comfortable win for us. I think BEZIERS VB defend and fight very well. I hope that we win the match in our own home with a nice result.”
Maritza PLOVDIV (BUL) vs. Allianz MTV STUTTGART (GER)
• Allianz MTV STUTTGART currently sit in second place in Pool A. If they defeat Maritza PLOVDIV by 3-0 or 3-1, they will secure their spot in the quarterfinals as one of the best three runners-up across all pools. Otherwise, their fate will depend on the day’s results in the other pools.
• Maritza currently sit in fourth place in the pool, without a shot at the quarterfinals, but they are hoping a good result would lift them to the third position in the final standings.
• Allianz defeated Maritza in four sets at home in their Pool A third-leg encounter on January 23.
• Two days before the game, Allianz MTV lost in straight sets their national cup final to Germany’s other representative in the CEV Champions League, SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN.
• Allianz are still unbeaten in 17 matches played since the start of the season in the German Bundesliga, leading the standings three points clear of SCHWERIN.
• Maritza also stand on top of the current standings in Bulgaria’s National Volleyball League (NVL), undefeated in 12 matches. They are already on a 69-game NVL winning streak, which started in November 2015.
Ivan Petkov, head coach of Maritza PLOVDIV: “I hope we play a good match on a high level, and of course celebrate another victory. We know this game is very important for our opponents, but we will try to please our fans with a win and finish this season’s Champions League participation with our heads held high.”
Ioannis Athanasopoulos, head coach of Allianz MTV STUTTGART: “It is a really important game for us. We came here to win, because if we win, we have the possibility to go the next round. It will be difficult to switch mentally after the big loss we suffered on Sunday, but we will try to stay focused and give everything to win this game. Maritza are a very good team. They showed it against us and they did so last week against BEZIERS VB, so it will be a tough task for us. This hall is unbelievable and we are really happy to play here.”
Pool B
Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL (TUR) vs. Dinamo KAZAN (RUS)
• Eczacibasi star player Jordan Larson will be playing her 40th CL match for the Turkish team.
• Eczacibasi are the current leaders of the Turkish national league and they have swept five matches in a row in Pool B of the CEV Champions League.
• Earlier this season, Eczacibasi beat Dinamo KAZAN 3-1 in Russia.
• Eczacibasi have already secured their spot in the quarterfinals.
Jordan Larson, player of Eczacibasi: “First of all, I cannot believe it is my 40th CL game. What an honour it is to represent Eczacibasi for so many years! I am looking forward to a great match.”
Evgeniya Startseva, captain of Dinamo KAZAN: “Eczacibasi is a great team and very strong opponent, but I think that we have quite real chances to fight for a good result and we will do our best to make it to the quarter-finals. Let us see how this battle will further develop.”
HÄMEENLINNA (FIN) vs. Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG (RUS)
• HÄMEENLINNA have not yet opened their winning account and they are fighting to get their first set win in the 2019 CEV Volleyball Champions League. This is their last chance to achieve this goal.
• Uralochka-NTMK have already secured third place in Pool B after winning two matches and losing three. This match will be their last CEV Champions League fixture this season.
• Kseniia Parubets has been the best scorer for Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG so far with 19.5 points per game. Suvi Kokkonen has scored 9.8 points to top the charts for HÄMEENLINNA.
• HÄMEENLINNA is the third Finnish team to compete in the pool stage of the CEV Volleyball Champions League. The win-loss record for Finnish teams in the competition stands at 1-16.
• As Belarussians Hanna Klimets and Anastasiya Harelik are the only foreign players in Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG, the roster of HÄMEENLINNA includes five foreign players from USA, Ukraine and France.
• Earlier this season, Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG recorded a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-15) home win. Best scorers were Kseniia Parubets (16 points) and Suvi Kokkonen (11 points).
Suvi Kokkonen, outside hitter of HÄMEENLINNA: “It is again time to challenge an extremely good team. We were again closer to taking a set in our last match against Dinamo KAZAN, so now it is about time to do it. When we get our game on our top level, we can achieve a great result. After five matches, it looks that we really can play good Volleyball! Of course, there is still much excitement, but we have become more relaxed with each match. We have absolutely nothing to lose and for sure we can cause a surprise this time.”
Pool C
Minchanka MINSK (BLR) vs. Budowlani LODZ (POL)
• Even though they are out of contention for a spot in the quarterfinals, Minchanka MINSK are willing to finish their participation in the pool stage of the Champions League on a high note, especially since this competition has drawn much attention from fans and media alike.
• Earlier this season, the matchup between Budowlani and Minchanka played in Poland was a close one, so the fans can expect pretty much of the same.
• One of Minchanka’s main players, Katsiaryna Sakolchyk, missed last week’s match with RC CANNES, since she was not feeling well. It is still questionable whether she will be able to play against Budowlani or not.
• The setter of Budowlani, Femke Stoltenborg, is a familiar face in Minsk – last year she played against Minchanka in the semis of the CEV Cup while wearing the shirt of Germany’s Allianz MTV STUTTGART.
• Budowlani travel to Minsk after claiming a 3-2 victory over LKS Commercecon LODZ in their national league, while Minchanka lost 1-3 to Yenisei KRASNOYARSK their last match in the Russian Superleague.
Aksana Kavalchuk, player of Minchanka: “We played with LODZ just recently, and it was an interesting fight, from which we learned a lot. We will try to show the work we have done on our mistakes and we hope to please the fans with an impressive performance.”
Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (ITA) vs. RC CANNES (FRA)
• Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA are still unbeaten in this European campaign so far: actually, the Italian girls are the only ones in the whole competition who have not dropped a single set yet.
• The previous game between RC CANNES and Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA ended in a 3-0 victory for the Italian team.
• The Italian setter from RC CANNES, Noemi Signorile, played for two seasons in Novara, while Igor Gorgonzola’s setter Letizia Camera spent one year in Cannes.
• The organisers expect more than 2,000 fans to attend the game in Pala IGOR Gorgonzola.
• It is the third home game in the 2019 CEV Champions League for Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA: so far, the hosts have claimed 3-0 wins over Budowlani LODZ and Minchanka MINSK.
Francesca Piccinini, captain of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA: “We already secured a spot in the quarterfinals, but we look forward to playing the game against RC CANNES with one goal: we want to achieve another victory and we want to offer a good performance to our supporters. I expect a tough game, and I know that RC CANNES will do their best to score some points.”
Riccardo Marchesi, head coach of RC CANNES: “We consider this game as very important for us, and even though we know that we have no chances to qualify for the quarterfinals, we still want to fight. NOVARA is one of the best teams in Italy and in Europe; we will be focused and determined.”
Pool D
Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO (ITA) vs. LKS Commercecon LODZ (POL)
• Imoco Volley need to win this match and will have to wait for results from the other pools to secure their qualification for the quarterfinals.
• The ‘Panthers’ lead the way in the standing of the Italian national league after this past weekend’s victory over Club Italia in Milan.
• Head coach Daniele Santarelli can count on a full roster for this key match.
• Earlier this season, CONEGLIANO beat LODZ 3-0 in Poland, with Samanta Fabris scoring 16 points for the ‘Panthers’.
Valentina Tirozzi, player of Imoco Volley: “We have only one option, the victory and possibly by 3-0. Only in this way can we hope for qualification for the next round. We must do our duty and win, unfortunately the results of the other matches do not depend on us, we lost points in the two games against SCHWERIN and the qualification is now not just in our hands.”
SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN (GER) vs. Savino Del Bene SCANDICCI (ITA)
• After winning the German cup on Sunday, SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN play Savino Del Bene SCANDICCI. About one month ago, SCHWERIN lost very clearly (0-3) in Italy. As it is the final match of Round 4 and SCANDICCI have already secured their spot in the quarterfinals by finishing first in the pool, the Italians have the privilege of playing without any pressure.
• Accepting the role of playing as underdog can be extremely helpful especially for SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN, as they usually do not have this situation in the German Bundesliga. They have already shown it with an awesome win against Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO back in December. Winning the cup final on Sunday is another boost of energy for the Germans to show their best Volleyball against the Italians.
Jennifer Geerties, captain of SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN: “We all have to play at 120% in order to beat SCANDICCI. In front of our home crowd, anything is possible and I am really looking forward to enjoying an amazing atmosphere at PALMBERG ARENA. For sure, it is going to be a tight match. Let us see if we can do it again and take our third win at home in this year’s Champions League.”
Carlo Parisi, head coach of Savino Del Bene SCANDICCI: “In my opinion, SCHWERIN will want to play all of their cards and to create problems to us just as they did when playing Imoco Volley. It is up to us to find ourselves ready from a psychological standpoint. Their sports hall is not big but it is very noisy, with the spectators cheering all the time. There is a fair support from their side but there is a lot of noise too. SCHWERIN will certainly try to finish their duties in the pool phase in the best possible way.”
Pool E
C.S.M. BUCURESTI (ROU) vs. Fenerbahce Opet ISTANBUL (TUR)
• This is the last match for the ‘Tigresses’ from Romania’s capital in the 2019 edition of the CEV Champions League.
• Although they lost a week ago to Chemik POLICE, the Romanian team has won everyone’s respect in their maiden appearance in the competition.
• Fenerbahce are the current leaders of Pool E and they need to take one set from this match to secure first place in the group.
Maret Balkestein-Grothues, captain of C.S.M. BUCURESTI: “If we want to have a chance, we have to have a very good serving game and to display a good blocking game as well. It is very important for us to play a high-level match and it will be especially important for the soon-to-come playoffs of the national league. They are a very good team, but we want to play at the same level with them. Such matches are very important and give us the chance to become better. I played for Fenerbahce and I know there will be a crowd of supporters in this match, but I hope that the fans of C.S.M. BUCURESTI will come too, so it will be a nice match.”
Marius Vasile Măcicăşan, assistant coach of C.S.M. BUCURESTI: “The service is the first weapon we have to use if we want to have a chance. Our young girls such as Adelina Ungureanu and Francesca Alupei are improving and this is very good. It is going to be a hard game, for sure Fenerbahce will come to win and to maintain their first place in the group but we want to show what we can, especially since the match in Istanbul was not that good for us.”
Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) vs. Chemik POLICE (POL)
• After last week’s 3-2 away win at Fenerbahce, Dinamo MOSCOW are fully in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals.
• The fans look forward to seeing who will be playing this match. Halfway through the season, some players would need some rest and others more playing time – and Dinamo can choose from a number of options especially with regard to their middle blockers.
• Dinamo currently sit in second place in the Russian national league.
• Nataliya Goncharova delivered a superb performance in the match with Fenerbahce and she is ready to do the same against the Polish champions.
• Every point counts towards qualification for the next round.
Alexander Sukomel, head coach of Dinamo MOSCOW: “We are very happy with our victory over Fenerbahce and now we focus on the match with the Polish team. We are hoping to finish the pool stage of the competition with a good result.”
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