Belchatow, Poland, February 13, 2014.  PGE Skra BELCHATOW defeated VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN for the second time in the quarterfinals of the 2014 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men and will meet Russia’s Guberniya NIZHNIY NOVGOROD in the battle for a place in the final.  In front of 2500 enthusiastic fans at the Energia competition hall in Belchatow the home team managed a 3:1 (24-26, 26-24, 25-17, 25-23) victory over the German giant.

"We expected a long and difficult battle and it turned out we were right. The German team is very well-balanced and we had to play our best,” stated Facundo Conte. The Argentinian receiver of Skra was the best scorer of the game with 21 points.  "We had some problems with the powerful serves of our opponents, but we managed to win and this was the most important thing,” he added.  Mariusz Wlazly did a great job adding 18 points to the victory, including 3 kill blocks. Ventceslav Simeonov scored 17 for VfB, while Christian Duennes was responsible for another 13.

The beginning of the match did not indicate that it would be so tight, as the home team maintained a comfortable advantage almost throughout the first set. Skra reached set point at 24-20, but lost 6 consecutive points and, hence, the opening set.  Nikola Jovovic did a great job in serving as FRIEDRICHSHAFEN’s block also helped a lot for the eventual 26-24.

The leader in the German Bundesliga continued playing great in the second set, rushing to a 22-17 lead.  That was the moment for Daniel Plinski to come back after the injury and make the Polish block very tight.  Skra overturned the score to win the set by 26-24, followed by an easy 25-17 in the third.

The fourth set was again very competitive. The first time the gap opened wider than 1 point was at 16-14 in favor of FRIEDRICHSHAFEN to be extended to 19-16 a short while later.  But the home team fought back to tie at 19-19 and then to settle the bill at 25-23.

"It was a very strange match, ‘crazy’ as some people would call it.  I am happy we won it,” said Andrzej Wrona, PGE Skra middle blocker.

"We are very happy with the win and the promotion.  The team showed a great character and team spirit. I am proud of my players,” stated Skra head coach Miguel Angel Falasca.

Stelian Moculescu, VfB mentor, was in completely different mood: “We are giving away charity all season and so did we today. We had already given away many points in the Champions League, as we did the same today. I hope that Skra will win the CEV Cup.”