12/12/2019 22:00
MODENA edge Olympiacos after five thrilling sets to get #CEVCupM campaign underway
CEV Volleyball Cup 2020 / CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup 2020 - Men
Luxembourg, December 12, 2019. The major highlight in the 16th Finals of the CEV Volleyball Cup 2020 – Men lived up to everyone’s expectations with Leo Shoes MODENA of Italy eventually edging Olympiacos PIRAEUS at the tiebreak (32-34, 25-17, 36-38, 25-19, 17-15) after a match that lasted for two and a half hours.
The matchup confirmed that Olympiacos, currently the best men’s team in Greece, could come very close to achieving a historic victory, against an Italian club with a huge budget. The “Reds” were competitive and played high-level Volleyball from the start to the end, securing the first set after a great run of points (34-32). MODENA responded to take the second set (25-17). In the third set, the fans witnessed another thriller and Olympiacos had to reach 38 points to win it! In the fourth set, the visitors reacted very well and they showed some great skills for a 25-19 win. In the all-important tiebreak, both teams performed well but MODENA showed much resilience and quality in the key moments to seal a 3-2 victory. The re-match scheduled for next Thursday, December 19, will decide which one of the two teams will be making it to the 8th Finals.
The players and coach of Buducnost PODGORICA look jubilant at the end of their home triumph
Over to the CEV Challenge Cup, Buducnost PODGORICA of Montenegro celebrated their first victory in the European Cups in many years. Two teams comprising mostly young players fought bravely for five sets and for each point. Buducnost broke away in the first set from 11-11 to 16-11 to secure a 25-17 win. VKP SPU NITRA of Slovakia claimed an early 4-0 advantage in the second set and the hosts could not find the energy needed to fight back. NITRA came from behind in the third set to score three points in a row, which paved the way towards a 25-21 win. Despite trailing in the match, Buducnost responded well and eventually celebrated a 3-2 home triumph – the first such result in many years for the much-decorated team from the Montenegrin capital.
The head coach of PÄRNU VK, Avo Keel, had some positives to take from the home match with Mladost Ribola
PÄRNU VK beat Croatia’s Mladost Ribola KAŠTELA 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 25-10, 25-23). The head coach of the Estonian team, Avo Keel was happy with his team’s performance: “We made a plan at the meeting with the players and the biggest question was how we would start the match mentally. The team was aggressive until the end of the match. We did not start to panic when the opponent team showed their strong service. To win the second match we need to perform at least the same way as we did at home. The away match against any such team is always very difficult.”
“We took the maximum we could and the performance we showed was good. Even when we did not get the point, we did always fight for it. This match was much better than the one against LINKÖPING VC in the qualification round. I hope we can avoid these drops of concentration like those we had in the second set,” said the captain of the Estonian team, Martti Keel.
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