12/02/2013 20:44
Zaksa returns to final four after 10 years
2013 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Izmir, Turkey, February 12, 2013. Poland’s Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE is the very first team to join the hosts of Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK for the final four of the 2013 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men scheduled for March 16-17 in Omsk, Russia. Zaksa did so by claiming also the return match of their Playoffs 6 fixture with Turkey’s Arkas IZMIR (3:1; 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, and 25-19) after they had stamped a 3:2 home win last week in Poland. Zaksa will be celebrating in Omsk its third appearance in the final four of Europe’s most elitist competition after finishing third and fourth in 2003 and 2002 respectively. In the semis scheduled for March 16 Zaksa will be playing the winner of the Italian derby starring Lube Banca Marche MACERATA and Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO.
Arkas IZMIR – that last year had turned into the first team from Turkey able to make it to the final four – hoped very much to repeat that same feat but though Colombian home hero Liberman Agamez scored 25 points all alone, he eventually did lose the battle with Zaksa opposite player Antonin Rouzier who registered 27 along the way to his winning effort.
“First of all I want to congratulate our opponents” Arkas head coach Glenn Hoag says. “They played really well tonight, especially from the serving line. We had some problems in reception while their block-defense system was almost impeccable. They did not allow us to play our game. They deserved to win tonight and I wish them the best of luck for the final four”.
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
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