18/01/2012 22:01
Noliko downs Iraklis and qualifies for Playoffs 12
2012 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Maaseik, Belgium, January 18, 2012. Noliko MAASEIK downed Iraklis THESSALONIKI in straight sets tonight at “Lotto Dôme” (25-17, 25-14, 25-16) to advance to the Playoffs 12 of the 2012 CEV Volleyball Champions League. On the other hand, the guests from Greece are out of contention for the next stage of the competition as their closest competitor, Generali UNTERHACHING, scored tonight a splendid away win in Cuneo.
Iraklis surprised everyone in Maaseik by making it to Belgium without three foreign players, namely Cuban Rolando Despaigne who did not get his visa in due time, plus Latvia’s Viktors Korzenevics and Ansis Medenis who have left the club.
Even though they were missing such players, Iraklis started strongly but supported by 3’000 fans Noliko got back on track (16:10) and quite easily won the opening set (25-17).
The score stayed initially close in set 2 up to the second technical time-out but Noliko played superbly (20:11) especially with the help of Latvian Hermans Egleskalns to clip a speedy 25-14.
The home guys started pretty well also in set 3 (9:6, 11:7) and widened the gap steadily (18:11) to delight a splendid crowd with the final 3:0 (25-16).
“We did not cope with the strong serving of Noliko and had no solutions in attack tonight” says the libero of Iraklis, Georgios Stefanou.
“The result is clear and our qualification for the Playoffs 12 is a fantastic result” stresses Belgian player Kevin Klinkenberg.
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