26/01/2016 22:37
TRENTINO Diatec stun Noliko to top Pool C charts
2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League - Men
Maaseik, Belgium, January 26, 2016. TRENTINO Diatec finished their campaign in Pool C of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men with a commanding 3-0 win (25-21, 25-10, 25-21) over Noliko MAASEIK to claim first place in their group and get a more favourable seed for the Drawing of Lots which is due to follow on Thursday morning and will determine the grid for the Playoffs of Europe’s elite competition.
With the victory of TOURS VB in Thessaloniki earlier in the evening, TRENTINO Diatec was well aware of what was at stake when playing before 2,100 spectators in Maaseik. The Italians needed at least to win two sets in order to secure their first place in Pool C, something which they had kept right from the start of the League Round.
The first Italian lead resulted from a lucky ace, as the service by Sebastian Solé had previously touched the net; after that Mitar Tzourits and Simone Giannelli showed real craftsmanship with two perfect kill blocks for a 7-3 lead. Federico Pereyra managed to reduce the gap for just a couple of seconds. With two more blocks, TRENTINO’s Argentinean Solé pushed his compatriot Daniel Castellani, the head coach of Noliko MAASEIK, into a time-out at 12-7 for the Italians. Jelte Maan and Tim Broshog gave him little hope of a comeback at 14-12, but opposite Tzourits restored the visitors’ supremacy (17-12). Yet, a couple of good serves by Maan forced TRENTINO head coach Radostin Stoytchev into a time-out on his turn. His move proved to be the correct one as after the break TRENTINO cruised to a 25-21 set win sealed by their Slovenian outside spiker Tine Urnaut.
The Slovenian player immediately set the pace of the game also in the second set, crushing MAASEIK’s hopes with a terrific 8-1 run. Substitutes Krisztian Padar, Juan Ignacio Finoli and Max Staples desperately tried to turn the tide. However, nothing could stop the side captained by Filippo Lanza from cruising to a massive 25-10 win to secure their first place in Pool C.
But TRENTINO wanted more, and especially their sensational young gun Giannelli showed technical brilliance for a comfortable 20-12 lead in the second set. Local setter Nuno Pinheiro responded with a late comeback for 20-17, but Tzourits closed it out at 25-21 for the Italians.
TRENTINO Diatec head coach Radostin Stoytchev said: “I’m very satisfied with the result and with the level of our performance. My players executed our game plan for at least 90%. We needed this win in order to stay on top of the group. I know a lot of second-placed teams are very tough to beat, yet it’s better to go to the draw as the pool winners.”
The Belgian middle blocker of TRENTINO, Simon Van de Voorde, commented: “Actually, Noliko MAASEIK didn’t give us a hard time. They committed too many errors in order to bother us.”
Home star Jelte Maan concluded: “Even if we reached 21 points in the first set, we spoiled too many chances in attack. Especially in the second set, we didn’t play well in attack. Our reception was okay, and yet we were immediately 1-8 down. TRENTINO just had to bring back our easy balls.”
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
|