15/04/2014 19:16
Skra edges JASTRZEBSKI to make PlusLiga finals and claim CL ticket
News from the clubs
Belchatow, Poland, April 15, 2014. After a very disappointing 2012/2013 season at the end of which they missed out on a spot to represent Poland in the 2014 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League, Poland’s seven-time national champions PGE Skra BELCHATOW will be back in action for the 2015 edition of Europe’s elite club competition. Poland’s most decorated team of the past decade, PGE Skra claimed that slot after making the final stage of the PlusLiga.
This way Skra got back to where it belongs after a very disappointing fifth place in the 2012/2013 edition of the national league which came after the team from Belchatow had swept the title for seven consecutive years and also won a silver medal. This season Skra participated in the CEV Volleyball Cup making the semis and losing there to Russia’s rookie Guberniya NIZHNIY NOVGOROD. As for the national league, Skra has qualified for the finals and will play there the winner of the clash starring Asseco Resovia RZESZOW and Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE.
“I am very proud of my team,” says club president Konrad Piechocki. “We have reached one of our main goals for this season. We are going to come back to the Champions League, which is the place where we belong. However, we still have a mission to accomplish. I can’t stand two years without winning the national league.”
Skra made the finals of the PlusLiga after scoring three straight wins over CL bronze medalists JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel, the last one on Sunday. These matches were a display of power and class for the team placed under Argentinean-born coach Miguel Angel Falasca which counts on two young stars from the same South American nation, Facundo Conte (pictured) and Nicolas Uriarte.
“My attitude did never change, I always believed in these guys and I am sure that they can bring another title to Belchatow and yet another medal in the Champions League as well,” Piechocki adds.
Skra has made eight appearances in the CEV Volleyball Champions League so far, always making the Playoffs, and winning bronze in 2010 and silver in 2012 as the finals were hosted by the team at the Atlas Arena in Lodz. Now Skra wants to come back and perform strong once the next campaign will get started in October this year.
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