Luxembourg, November 6, 2019. Both the Romanian and Belarusian champions have beaten their opponents in Round 2 of the CEV Champions League Volley 2020 - Men in quite emphatic ways. C.S. Municipal Arcada GALATI, as well as Shakhtior SOLIGORSK, didn't drop a set on their path to victory. In a week they will be in pole positions for reaching a spot in the much coveted #CLVolleyM Round 3, when the return matches will be played in Serbia and Finland respectively.

C.S. Municipal Arcada GALATI have given their debut in the premier European competition an extra boost by beating Serbian champions Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD. They were never in trouble in the Match of the Week and cruised to victory in straight sets.

• The Serbian side managed to come back from trailing by four points on two occasions during the first set, but in the end had to leave the set to GALATI with 25-22.
• In the remaining sets the blocking and attacking power of the Romanian champions was too high, and they cruised to a straight-set victory.
• Dutchman Niels Klapwijk (pictured above) was the top scoring player on the side of GALATI. He scored 20 times and was subsequently chosen as MVP.
• Sergiu Stancu, head coach of GALATI stressed the importance of this victory: “This is an important victory for us, of course, especially that it was our first match in this prestigious competition. After a difficult moment in the first set, I am glad that we overcame our opponent. This was only the first step. It’s going to be a tough match in Novi Sad.”

In the other match of Wednesday Shakhtior SOLIGORSK only had to put in an extra effort in the opening set, as Ford Store Levoranta SASTAMALA (FIN) pushed them into overtime (29-27). In the remainder of the match the Belarusian side could quite easily gain enough an advantage to comfortably move on to a 3-0 win. 

• The head coach of Shakhtior allowed young players to play in the third set. The substitutions proved successful.
• Best scorer of the match was Maksim Shkredau - 15 points (including five blocks) and a 90% success rate in attack. For SASTAMALA opposite Mikko Oivanen made 14 points.
• Head coach Viktar Beksha of SOLIGORSK was thrilled with the win, he has SASTAMALA in high regard. “At the start of the match in Minsk they showed how they can play. However, we managed to secure and keep the initiative. My guys acted without making any serious errors.”

C.S. Municipal Arcada GALATI (ROU) vs. Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD (SRB) 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-21)
Shakhtior SOLIGORSK (BLR) vs. Ford Store Levoranta SASTAMALA (FIN) 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-13)

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