02/11/2016 10:00
Dutch and Bulgarian rookies to clash before 4,000-strong crowd in Groningen
2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Groningen, The Netherlands, November 2, 2016. The matchup starring Abiant Lycurgus GRONINGEN and Bulgaria’s Dobrudja 07 DOBRICH coming up on Wednesday night in Groningen will coincide with the historic debut in the CEV Volleyball Champions League for both of these teams. The organisers have announced that some 4,000 fans will be in attendance at Martini Plaza for the clash between the national champions of the Netherlands and Bulgaria.
Abiant Lycurgus currently lead the way in the Dutch national league after recording five wins in as many matches. Dobrudja 07 are sixth in the standing of the Bulgaria national championship after claiming two wins out of three matches. Abiant Lycurgus and Dobrudja both claimed their first national league titles last year. Abiant Lycurgus were among the pre-favourites in the Netherlands and had finished first also at the end of the regular season. As for Dobrudja, they were in fourth place heading into the Playoffs and surprised everyone by taking the title for the first time ever.
The coach of Abiant Lycurgus, Arjan Taaij, feels like his team stands a fair chance of progressing to the next round of the CEV Volleyball Champions League. “I feel very confident. If we are able to perform at a high level, we can make the difference and win this match.”
Canadian-born outside spiker Bryan Fraser (pictured above) says about the chances of Abiant Lycurgus: “I think we are ready, we have a solid team, strong opposites, our setting is good. We play good, clean, fairly simple Volleyball which will help us against Dobrudja who have a lot of hard hitters. We don’t want to make too many errors.”
Middle blocker Iliya Petkov of Dobrudja 07 DOBRICH expects a hard battle. “I expect a tough match, but I think we can win. We can play with more heart than Abiant Lycurgus does. They play very disciplined and have a good organisation of their game. The fact that we are younger will help us. I think we are better.”
At Abiant Lycurgus everyone is fit and able to play. On the other hand, middle blocker Denis Chavdarov of Dobrudja 07 is out of the roster for Wednesday night. The Dutch fans can look forward towards a clash between the well-organised game of Abiant Lycurgus and the emotional youngsters of Dobrudja 07 from Bulgaria.
|