26/01/2016 08:54
PGE Skra need home win to secure Playoff spot
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Belchatow, Poland, January 26, 2016. It has been 363 days since the last CEV Volleyball Champions League match was played in Belchatow but a lot longer since the last time when PGE Skra BELCHATOW had to fight until the very end of the group stage to secure their progression to the Playoffs of Europe’s elite men’s competition.
The eight-time Polish champions have participated in the CEV Volleyball Champions League ten times and have always made it to the Playoffs 12, at least. To maintain that positive streak PGE Skra need to beat Dukla LIBEREC. The team from the Czech Republic have lost all of their five matches in Pool E so far, winning only two sets in the process.
“We are the strong favourites but we cannot underestimate our opponents. We have to be concentrated and stay focussed on the match. We need a win and I believe we can do it,” Miguel Angel Falasca stated. The PGE Skra mentor has some problems however: “I do not know how the players will feel physically and who will be able to play.”
A lot of the PGE Skra players suffered food poisoning last week and the team had to travel to Italy without a couple key players, like for instance captain Mariusz Wlazly, for their matchup with Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA. Also Michal Winiarski will be unavailable until the end of the season after undergoing surgery.
“Despite the problems we stay strong, we are PGE Skra. We lost the chance to be seeded in the Playoffs but we will not let the opponents beat us. I believe in my team,” Konrad Piechocki, the PGE Skra President stated.
PGE Skra BELCHATOW played both their previous home matches in Pool E of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men 50 kilometres from Belchatow, at the imposing Atlas Arena in Lodz. Now it is time to come back to the five-time smaller Energia sports hall in Belchatow. Last time Falasca’s men played here in the Champions League was on January 27, 2015. Nearly a year ago PGE Skra defeated another Czech team, Jihostroj CESKE BUDEJOVICE, 3-0.
“We hope to repeat that score, we know what we are fighting for,” summed up Karol Klos, PGE Skra middle blocker.
Tickets for the decisive home match with Dukla LIBEREC are sold out.
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