01/02/2017 22:25
Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA secure second place in Pool B after routing Resovia
2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League - Men
Civitanova Marche, Italy, February 1, 2017. Italy’s Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA made sure on Wednesday night they will finish at least second in Pool B of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men by scoring their third victory in a row out of four matches. The Italians cruised to a speedy 3-0 victory (25-21, 25-16, 25-16) in their second matchup with Poland’s standout Asseco Resovia RZESZOW.
The team from Poland caught a good start to the first set, as they cruised to an early 10-8 lead with a massive attack by their Canadian opposite Gavin Schmitt. Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA closed in to 13-13 via the good performance of their Bulgarian opposite Tsvetan Sokolov (he scored six points in the opening set, with a 60% success rate in attack), and after that the Italians edged ahead with the help of the serves and attacks by Osmany Juantorena (seven points, 88%). Sokolov eventually sealed the 25-21 win for CIVITANOVA.
The Italians immediately took control of proceedings also in the second set, where they claimed an early 13-9 lead, before the Polish team replaced opposite Schmitt with Jochen Schöps, and setter Fabian Drzyzga with Lukas Tichacek. However, the one-man show by Osmany Juantorena continued, as he stamped three blocks in a row and closed the set out at 25-16.
Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA continued to perform in the same way also in the third set, in which Sokolov scored four aces, and the Italians fully deserved the final victory (25-16). Osmany Juantorena and Tsvetan Sokolov were the top scorers of the match with 15 points apiece.
“My guys were good at finding the mental strength which was required to play this match,” said the home side’s setter Micah Christenson. “Now I feel quite confident about the possibility to qualify to the Playoffs 12, and we want to achieve this by finishing first in our pool.”
On the opponent side, Asseco Resovia RZESZOW head coach Andrzej Kowal said: “This match was very similar to the one we played two weeks ago in Poland. Lube claimed both victories with their great serves, as we had big problems in reception.”
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