29/04/2018 10:09
Noliko MAASEIK capture 15th national league title
News from the clubs
Maaseik, Belgium, April 29, 2018. With a third victory in a row against Knack ROESELARE in the championship series, Noliko MAASEIK captured on Saturday night their 15th title in the Belgian men’s national league.
For more than twenty years, the rivalry between these two Belgian powerhouses has pushed them to an internationally highly respected level, with both teams regularly reaching the Playoff stage of the CEV Champions League.
However, in the last ten years Knack ROESELARE built up a strong dominance, winning five national league titles in a row. This season, however, Noliko MAASEIK came out stronger than ever. In the Champions League, Daniel Castellani’s successor Joel Banks, led his team to prestigious victories over Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE, Arkas IZMIR and Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK.
On Belgian soil, Knack ROESELARE acted on quite the same level as Noliko MAASEIK, beating them in the Cup Final (3-1). Yet MAASEIK earned the title for the full 100 % since they beat Knack ROESELARE in all remaining eight direct confrontations this season, of which three came in the championship series: 3-0 in Maaseik, 3-2 in Roeselare last Wednesday, and 3-0 in front of a home crowd of more than 3,000 in the Steengoed Arena on Saturday.
Opposite Jolan Cox and team captain Jelte Maan excelled with 16 points each in the ultimate victory, whereas Kamil Rychlicki got the honour to spike the match point on the floor. Knack ROESELARE, with Matthijs Verhanneman topping the charts with 13 points, could not offer departing coach Emile Rousseaux a sixth title in a row.
Noliko’s triumph was a stunning success for technical director Wout Wijsmans and for coach Joel Banks, who crowned his first year as head coach of a top team with the most important trophy in Belgium.
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