VolleyRuller96

Bunge RAVENNA claim home win in #CEVChallengeCupM final stage Luxembourg, April 4, 2018. Bunge RAVENNA claimed an important victory in the first matchup from the final phase of the #CEVChallengeCupM. The Italians took a 3-1 win over their opponents from Olympiacos PIRAEUS. However, a re-match will define who the winners of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Men will be, as the away game will take place on April 11. In this first match, which lasted 131 min., both teams showed a real will to win, as the spectators in Ravenna enjoyed some high-class Volleyball. Bunge RAVENNA (ITA) vs. Olympiacos PIRAEUS (GRE) 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23) • Bunge RAVENNA are playing in the final stage of a European competition after 21 years. Back in 1997, the same club (at that time known as Porto Area) won in Geneva the CEV Cup beating the Turkish club of Netas ISTANBUL. On the other hand, Olympiacos PIRAEUS have had the opportunity to perform in the final stage of a European competition in more recent times - in 2005 they won in Pireaus the Top Teams Cup, playing against the Dutch side of Ortec ROTTERDAM Nesselande. Again in Piraeus, but in 1992, Ravenna and Olympiacos fought in the Champions Cup final and Messaggero RAVENNA won the title by 3-0. • In the first set, both teams showed a very good game. Bunge RAVENNA and Olympiacos PIRAEUS were closely “following” each other in the score. Thanks to an ace made by Cristian Poglajen, RAVENNA opened the match in their favour. Paul Buchegger from the hosts scored six points (55% of success rate), while Mikko Oivanen from the guests responded with six points (40%) as well. • In the second set Olympiacos PIRAEUS rushed to 5-2 and the Greek team managed to keep the advantage for the remainder of the set. Georgios Petreas made a great block and put an end to this part of the match, making the score equal. Special mention for Todor Aleksiev who scored five points in this section of the game. • Bunge RAVENNA started slowly in the third set, but thanks to the great cooperation of Buchegger and Nicolas Marechal the team recovered and took the lead (11-9 and then 19-15). Marechal was “on fire” with 75% of success rate in attack. Krasimir Georgiev also helped by scoring four points. • Bunge RAVENNA won the fourth set, but the teams were constantly exchanging the lead - Olympiacos PIRAEUS were leading at 4-1, but then Bunge’s players responded at 8-7. The Greeks reacted to edge ahead at 15-11, but RAVENNA wouldn’t let things slip away from their hands (good play by Santiago Orduna at 19-17). The visitors fought until the very end of this part (20-22), but Paul Buchegger and Enrico Diamantini accepted the challenge and showed their best. Diamantini shone with an ace at 23-22 and Buchegger closed the game cashing the second match point for the Italians.

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Play-off 6, 1st Leg Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-1 Trentino Diatec Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle 3-2 VFB Friedrichshafen SIR Safety Perugia 3-1 Lokomotiv Novosibirsk THE FINAL,1st LEG Bunge Ravenna 3-1 Olympiacos Piraeus

ROAD TO KAZAN PLAYOFF 6, 1st LEG Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-1 Trentino Volley (25-22 / 23-25 / 25-19 /28-26) It was the fifth match featuring these two teams in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. They previously crossed their paths in the 2009 and 2016 semi-finals and in the Playoffs 6 of the 2012 edition as well. • TRENTINO Diatec line-up included the Estonian opposite Renee Teppan, as Luca Vettori suffered an injury just at the end of the warm up.• The home team immediately took control of the operations in the opening set, where they claimed a 22-18 lead thanks to services of Dragan Stankovic (six points with 67% of efficiency and two aces) and Micah Christenson, to seal a 25-22 win. • TRENTINO Diatec got back on track in the second set and were able to claim it 25-23 after a great serve of Simone Giannelli, that allowed Teppan to easily spike the ball to seal the final score. • CIVITANOVA set the pace from start to end of the third set (25-19), while in the fourth they won a very physical fight, with Osmany Juantorena sealing a 28-26 win for the home side with an ace.• Juantorena was the best scorer of the match with 19 points (16/30 in attack). Tsvetan Sokolov added 18, while Filippo Lanza scored 18 times for the visitors. • For Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA this is the second win out of five CEV Champions League matches against TRENTINO Diatec this far. • Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA are now only two sets away from securing their third Final Four appearance in a row after winning bronze in 2016 as well as in 2017. Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle 3-2 VFB Friedrichshafen (25-23 / 25-21 / 22-25 / 22-25 / 15-12) The hosts used their service to set the pace in the early stages of the first set (4-1, 8-5) before the visitors somehow woke up after the technical break with their Greek outside hitter Athanasios Protopsaltis helping tie the score at 8-all. It was a very close race up until the end with many long rallies before Mateusz Bieniek sealed a 25-23 win for Zaksa. • Zaksa set the tempo of the game also in the second set but a German lead at 13-10 prompted a time-out by the coach of the home side, Andrea Gardini. The hosts responded well as they made it 13-13 and edged ahead at 15-14 with an ace of Maurice Torres. Sam Deroo delivered a truly outstanding performance at this stage and after claiming a four-point advantage at 23-19, Zaksa closed the set out at 25-21. • The visitors played a much better game in the third set leading 5-3 and 8-6 before Zaksa levelled the count at 9-9. Such a close race continued up to 12-all before the Germans scored four points in a row. Two straight mistakes made by Lukasz Wisniewski moved the score to 19-15 for the Häfler and despite some errors towards the end of the set, the visitors sealed a 25-22 win. • VfB setter Simon Tischer found the right timing and chemistry with Protopsaltis and David Sossenheimer to shape up an 8-5 lead for the Germans at the first technical timeout of the fourth set. The fourth set was an intense battle with Zaksa coming back from 8-12 to 14-15. However, after that, the hosts somehow ran out of fuel and VfB scored four times in a row to get the advantage they needed to go for the tiebreak (25-22). • The final set seemed to run according to the visitors’ plan as Protopsaltis scored repeatedly and a missed attack by Rafal Buszek made it 11-7 for the Häfler. At this stage, the reigning Polish national champions showed their character and fighting spirit with 2,000 fans rooting loudly for them as Buszek levelled the count at 11-all. An ace by Buszek moved the score to 13-11 and Deroo’s attack sealed a dramatic win for Zaksa at 15-13. SIR Safety Perugia 3-1 Lokomotiv Novosibirsk (24-26 / 25-15 / 25-19 / 25-21) Lokomotiv came back from 22-24 in the first set and the Russians sealed a 26-24 win with four straight points. • PERUGIA responded by dominating the second set (25-15) where they recorded three aces and four blocks. • The third set was a much closer affair with the hosts prevailing courtesy of their higher success rate in attack (46 vs. 36%).• The fans in attendance erupted in euphoria after Marko Podrascanin sealed a 3-1 win for the home side at the end of the fourth set. • Aleksandar Atanasijevic top scored in the match with 21 points.

What a comeback for Zaksa from 7-11 in Tie Break to 15-13 Now do the same in

After two lucky sets for Zaksa, Friedrichshafen gained momentum in the third one and won it Still I hope Zaksa may achieve the biggest success for Polish Volleyball since a few years but they will have to improve their play, otherwise VFB will achieve their 38 and 39th straight win Btw. player Protopsaltis Also wow, Perugia leads against Novosibirsk!

TODAY'S SCHEDULE Play-off 6, 1st Leg Cucine Lebe Civitanova - Trentino Diatec Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle - VFB FRiedrichshafen Sir Safety Perugia - Lokomotiv Novosibirsk The Final, 1st LEG Bunge Ravenna - Olypiacos PIraeus

Nice win against Great Britain, especially since they were losing 4-3 after II period

ROAD TO KAZAN PLAYOFF 6, 1st LEG Cucine Lube Civitanova - Trentino Volley LIVE STREAM 20:30 CEST http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestream/cucine-lube-civitanova-trentino-diatec-len STARTING LINE-UPS, STATS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31279&ID=1033 Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle - VFB Friedrichshafen LIVE STREAM 20:30 CEST http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestream/2018-04-04-zaksa-kedzierzyn-kozle-vfb-friedrichshafen-len STARTING LINE-UPS, STATS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31280&ID=1033 SIR Safety Perugia - Lokomotiv Novosibirsk LIVE STREAM 20:30 CEST http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestream/sir-safety-sicoma-perugia-lokomotiv-novosibirsk-len STARTING LINE-UPS, STATS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31278&ID=1033

Belogorie rout Ziraat Bankasi in first round of #CEVCupM Finals Belgorod, Russia, April 3, 2018. Belogorie BELGOROD needed only 68 minutes on Tuesday night to secure a compelling 3-0 home victory (25-13, 25-15, 25-14) in their first matchup with Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA with the title of this year’s CEV Cup – Men at stake. The return match will be taking place next Tuesday, April 10 in the Turkish capital. Belogorie are vying for their first European Cup title since they won the CEV Volleyball Champions League in 2014. • Belogorie BELGOROD provided something to cheer about for some 4,500 fans in attendance at Sports Palace Cosmos. • Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA claimed a small lead only in the early stages of the third set (2-0) before Belogorie stormed to a 3-0 victory. • The coach of Belogorie, Alexander Kosarev, did not have to make any substitutions throughout the match – with the only exception being Roman Danilov who joined the actions just to serve. On the other hand, Ziraat Bankasi changed Bartosz Kurek many times for Vojin Cacic, but to no avail. • Belogorie setter Roman Poroshin passed the ball to Dmitry Muserskiy on every possible occasion – and as a result, Muserskiy top scored in the end with 18 points. Kurek paced Ziraat Bankasi with seven points Sergey Tetyukhin, team captain of Belogorie BELGOROD: “We had to make amends for the bad matches we had played in the quarterfinals of the Russian national league – we owed this to ourselves and to the fans as well. The Turkish team did not cause us any problems tonight. We played very well in every element of the game, including from the service line. However, I think that the second match will be completely different. They have some very good players; they will be playing at home, in front of their fans, so we have to be ready for that.” Joshko Milenkoski, head coach of Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA: “Tonight we played in a very famous sports hall, which is some kind of a ‘hall of fame’ since it has hosted many important matches, including a Champions League final. Belogorie played amazingly well today – and they did so especially with their service and block. They did not give us any chance to play our game. A team including a number of Olympic champions such as Sergey Grankin, Sergey Tetyukhin, Dmitriy Muserskiy and Alexey Obmochaev deserves the victory and they deserve to win the cup as well. However, I still hope that the re-match in Ankara will be different.”

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS THE FINAL, LEG 1 Belogorie Belgorod 3-0 Ziraat Bankasi Ankara

TODAY'S SCHEDULE THE FINAL, Leg 1 Belogorie - Belgorod - Ziraat Bankasi Ankara - 19:00 CEST

We beat Korea 4-0 A nice bounced back after yesterday's tragedy against

Goran Janus is not Slovenia NT coach anymore

Well, let's hope Robert Lewandowski will be in the same shape he was in the Qualification Tournameny during the World Cup, otherwise...

Ok, THX, I did not know that, I just saw the result and found it interesting

Vive Kielce 41-17 Rhein Neckar Lowen in The Champions League

ROAD TO KAZAN PLAYOFF 12, 2nd LEG VFB Friedrichshafen 3-0 Berlin Recycling Volleys (25-19 / 25-23 / 25-22) VFB Friedrichshafen QUALIFIES TO NEXT ROUND Berlin Recycling Volleys ELIMINATED Andreas Takvam had played as an outside hitter for the last 32 games. Vital Heynen put him back on his original middle blocker position against BERLIN and he still was in shape, this move resulting in 14 points and three blocks for the Norwegian player. In the first match in Berlin, the home team had out-blocked the opposition 16-8. Today the hosts overpowered BERLIN in blocking 11-2. Best blocker overall was Philipp Collin with five. 3,240 spectators came to ZF Arena to see the German derby against the BR Volleys. This is a new attendance record for the Häfler in this campaign. It’s the first time since 2012 that the Häfler have reached the Playoffs 6 of the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Top scorer for the home side was Athanasios Protopsaltis with 15 points, while on the side of BERLIN Paul Carroll scored 20 times. Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-0 PGE Skra Belchatow (25-17 / 25-18 / 25-21) Cucine Lube Civitanova QUALIFIES TO NEXT ROUND PGE Skra Belchatow ELIMINATED Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA had to win with any result to be sure to reach the Playoffs 6 phase, after defeating PGE Skra BELCHATOW last week in Lodz (3-2). The Italians immediately took control of the operations in the opening set, where they claimed a 22-14 lead thanks to services of Micah Christenson and attacks of the Bulgarian star Tsvetan Sokolov (8 points with 78% efficiency), who also did spike the ball that sealed the 25-17 win. The second set was a very close affair with the visitors edging ahead 4-1 courtesy of their great services. Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA got back on track to 9-9 and were able to claim the set 25-18. CIVITANOVA was constantly leading in the third set, in which the home libero Jenia Grebennikov performed spectacular defenses, and the hosts eventually secured a 25-21 win. Tsvetan Sokolov was the best scorer of the match with 17 points (12/20 killed attacks). Osmany Juantorena added 12 and Taylor Sander 10 for the Italian team, while Mariusz Wlazly was the top scorer for Skra with 10. In the next round of the competition, Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA will play an Italian derby against TRENTINO Diatec. The two teams previously met each other three times in the CEV Volleyball Champions League: in the 2009 and 2016 semis, and in the Playoffs 6 of the 2012 edition. Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA, bronze medallist of the 2016 and 2017 editions, were vying for a spot in the Playoffs 6 for the third straight season. :

ROAD TO KAZAN PLAYOFF 12, 2nd LEG VFB Friedrichshafen - Berlin Recycling Volleys (1st Leg 3-2) LIVE STREAM 20:00 CEST http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/channel/volleyball-cev-champions-league-men-livestream-video-for-free STARTING LINE-UPS, STATS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31277&ID=1033 Cucine Lube Civitanova - PGE Skra Belchatow (1st Leg 3-1) LIVE STREAM 20:30 CEST http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestream/2018-03-22-cucine-lube-civitanova-pge-skra-belchatow-len STARTING LINE-UPS, STATS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31274&ID=1033

ROAD TO KAZAN PLAYOFF 12, 2nd LEG Lokomotiv Novosibirsk 3-1 Noliko Maaseik (25-18 / 25-22 / 19-25 / 26-24) GOLDEN SET 15-12 LOKOMOTIV NOVOSIBIRSK QUALIFIES TO NEXT ROUND NOLIKO MAASEIK ELIMINATED Lokomotiv had to win with a score of 3:1 or 3:0, as well as win the eventual Golden Set in order to progress to the next round. As such, they started with their strongest possible team composition. The Belgians stayed in the game (5-5, 8-7) before the home side established a lead at 11-8, to which the head coach of Noliko reacted with a time-out. In the third part of the set, the visitors slightly reduced the difference in the score, but, in general, the team of Novosibirsk completely controlled the situation on the court and won the set with a clear advantage - 25:18. Before the first technical, Lokomotiv managed to edge two points ahead. From here the "railwaymen" also made a push and reached 13-9, mainly due to a good blocking game. The remainder of the second set remained for the Russian side, who restrained the attacking impulse of the guests to take a two-set lead. Lokomotiv's coach Plamen Konstantinov was forced to take a time-out after the Belgian side started strongly knowing that if they could level the match to 2-2 that would be enough to make it to the next round. As the teams approached the twenties, the Belgians pushed ahead to 20-17 and that was enough to take the set 25-19. Now just one set away and the Belgian team were in the lead, albeit with a minimal advantage 8-7 at the first technical, however this grew to two points at the second technical break (16-14). The "Railwaymen" equalised the score at 18-18 leading to a tense end of the set. There was a fight in every point but it ended in favour of Novosibirsk – 26-24 – meaning a Golden Set. The Golden Set continued with the same flow. It was 8-7 in favour of Lokomotiv when the teams changed sides. Marcus Nilsson made an accurate attack to make it 13-11 and the hosts did not lose their opportunity and sealed a place in the Playoff 6 (15-12). The best on the stats for the home side was Marcus Nilsson who scored 20 points while Sebastian Gevert top scored for Noliko with 26. Jastrzebski Wegiel 0-3 Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle (21-25 / 20-25 / 12-25) JASTRZEBSKI WEGIEL ELIMINATED ZAKSA KEDZIERZYN KOZLE QUALIFIES TO NEXT ROUND Over two thousand fans watched two Polish sides battle it out for a place in the Playoffs 6. In the end Zaksa broke the resistance of JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel and confirmed their place in the group of the six best teams in Europe. The match started with a nice ceremony as Sebastian Świderski, president of Zaksa, along with the supporters of the club thanked the current trainer of JASTRZEBSKI, Ferdinado De Giorgi for spending two years in this team. Salvador Hidalgo Oliva started the match with an ace and after a nice counterattack the travelling team took a 3-1 lead. Some smart tricks from French setter Benjamin Toniutti and a nicely placed ace by Rafał Buszek made Zaksa come back to the right course. When Maciej Muzaj attacked and missed the court when there was no block, the host team grabbed a convincing 10-6 lead and took control of the set (14-8, 16-12, 20-15) before securing the opening set 25-21. The second set started pretty nervously. The Canadian opposite hitter Jason De Rocco of JASTRZEBSKI was punished with a yellow card for challenging the referee's decision and the score stayed level (3-3, 5-5, 7-7). Zaksa jumped ahead by a couple of points numerous times but each time they did so, the visitors managed to level the score. It was only at the end, after some missed serves and attacks by the away side, and 'a scuffle' at the net won by Sam Deroo, that Zaksa manage to take a 21-18 lead. After De Rocco missed the court with his fierce attack, the squad from Kedzierzyn won the second set 25-20 and with it secured their promotion to the Playoffs 6. From the third set a new match had began with the coaches of both teams deciding to try out some of their substitutes. At the second technical break, Zaksa had a 16-10 advantage and convincingly won the third and last set 25-12. They now await their opponent from Germany in the next round. - SIR Safety Perugia - Halkbank Ankara (25-23 / 25-23 / 25-13) : SIR SAFETY PERUGIA QUALIFIES TO NEXT ROUND HALKBANK ANKARA ELIMINATED Knowing that two sets would do for the home team, the start of the match was important for both sides. The hosts needed a comeback in the first set, after nine service errors, before they squeezed through by two points. A superb Alexander Berger (seven points, 67% success in attack) was PERUGIA’s man in the second set. It was Fernando Hernandez Ramos’s service error that ended the set 25-23, thus giving Sir Colussi Sicoma the certainty of progressing to the Playoffs 6. After twenty days, Aaron Russell returned back to the court doing so in the third set as he is recovering from injury. PERUGIA dominated the third set with Aleksandar Atanasijevic registering a 100% success rate in attack. It was his ace that ended the set 25-13. Sir Colussi Sicoma PERUGIA will be playing against Lokomotiv NOVOSIBIRSK in the Playoffs 6, with a spot in the Final Four at stake.

TODAY'S SCHEDULE Play-off 12, 2nd Leg Lokomotiv Novosibirsk - Noliko Maaseik SIr Safety Perugia - Halkbank Ankara Jastrzebski Wegiel - Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle SEMIFINALS, LEG 2 Olympiacos Piraeus - Gazprom Urga Surgut Maliye Miyango Ankara - Bunge Ravenna

ROAD TO KAZAN PLAYOFF 12, 2nd LEG Lokomotiv Novosibirsk - Noliko Maaseik LIVE STREAM 13:30 CEST http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestream/lokomotiv-novosibirsk-noliko-maaseik-len STARTING LINEUPS,STARTS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31273&ID=1033 Jastrzebski Wegiel - Zaksa Kedzierzyn Kozle LIVE STREAM 20:00 CEST https://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestream/zaksa-kedzierzyn-kozle-jastrzebski-wegiel-len STARTING LINEUPS, STATS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31276&ID=1033 - SIR Safety Perugia - Halkbank Ankara LIVE STREAM 20:00 CEST https://www.laola1.tv/en-int/livestream/sir-safety-sicoma-perugia-halkbank-ankara-len STARTING LINEUPS, STATS & LIVESCORE https://www.cev.eu/Competition-Area/MatchPage.aspx?mID=31277&ID=1033

Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA and Belogorie BELGOROD bound to face in #CEVCupM Final Luxembourg, March 20, 2018. Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA and Belogorie BELGOROD are bound to meet in the Final of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Cup. Despite a loss in the tie-breaker, ANKARA reached the final after achieving more points than their Italian opponent Calzedonia VERONA, while BELGOROD secured their second win without a set loss against Poland’s Asseco Resovia RZESZOW. Asseco Resovia RZESZOW (POL) vs. Belogorie BELGOROD (RUS) 0-3 (24-26, 22-25, 21-25) Thibault Rossard and Dmitriy Muserskiy recorded one ace apiece in the first set. As the set was developing, both teams managed to dissipate their lead. At the end of the set, BELGOROD were better by winning 26-24. From the beginning of the second set, Belogorie BELGOROD players were better and systematically built their advantage (16-13). Despite the fight on the side of the RZESZOW team, the Russians won the set, thus securing their place in the final. Belogorie BELGOROD coach Gennady Shipulin made substitutions in his team, but this did not reduce the quality of the visitors' game (14-11). The good game of the Russians gave them a 3-0 victory. The best scorer was Dmitriy Muserskiy with 16 points. As for Asseco Resovia RZESZOW, their best player was Aleksander Sliwka with 13 points. Belogorie BELGOROD had 11 blocks and four aces. Lucio Oro, assistant coach of Asseco Resovia RZESZOW: “To make some good analysis about the match you have to check the statistics, but my first thought was that if we had won the first set, for sure it would have been a different match. We started the match from a 0-3 loss from the previous leg, so after losing the first set where we fought and gave everything, we had to start another one with 200% of our skills. The second set we were still fighting and were behind most of the time by 1-2 points. The loss in the second set determined the fate of both teams, but I think we can be proud of how we played in the first and second set. We approached it without any fear, we played with courage. Belogorie BELGOROD are a very good and strong team. We did our best but it was not enough.” Alexandr Bogomolov, assistant coach of Belogorie BELGOROD: “The first thing I would like to say is that RZESZOW have a great group of fans. We really liked how they cheer and how the whole hall give their players a good energy. I think that the first set was decisive in this match, because Asseco Resovia RZESZOW put us in a very difficult position. The breakthrough moment at 22-22 gave us the eventual victory and after that, it was easier for us to approach the second set. Confidence and breakthrough in the first set gave us the victory and progression to the final.” Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA (TUR) vs. Calzedonia VERONA (ITA) 2-3 (20-25, 20-25, 25-20, 26-24, 11-15)

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Play-off 12, 2nd Leg Trentino Diatec 3:0 Chaumont VB 52 Haute Marne QUALIFIED TO NEXT ROUND Trentino Diatec SEMIFINALS, 2nd LEG Asseco Resovia Rzeszow 0:3 Belogorie Belgorod Ziraat Bankasi Ankara 2:3 Calzedonia Verona QUALIFIED TO NEXT ROUND Belogorie Belgorod Ziraat Bankasi Ankara

ROAD TO KAZAN PLAYOFF 12, 2nd LEG Trentino Diatec 3-0 Chaumont VB 52 Haute Marne - 1st LEG (2-3) (26-24 / 25-23 / 27-25) TRENTINO DIATEC QUALIFIES TO PLAYOFF 6 CHAUMONT VB 52 HAUTE MARNE ELIMINATED uxembourg, March 20, 2018. Three-time gold medal winners TRENTINO Diatec sealed a spot in the Playoffs 6 of the 2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men after securing a 3-0 home victory (26-24, 25-23, 27-25) in their second matchup with CHAUMONT VB 52 Haute Marne to make amends for their 2-3 loss last week in France. This means that TRENTINO did not have to contest a Golden Set to progress to the next round and have made it a step closer towards reaching the Final Four due to take place in Kazan on May 12-13, 2018. They now await the winners of the fixture between Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA and PGE Skra BELCHATOW to know the name of their opponent in the last round of the competition preceding the Final Four. • TRENTINO Diatec came back from last week’s 2-3 away loss to deliver a superb performance and storm to a hard-fought 3-0 victory over France reigning national champions. • The Italians needed a 3-0 or 3-1 home win to avoid a Golden Set and they delivered the result they wanted after taking three extremely close sets. • Home team’s captain Filippo Lanza received the award for the Most Valuable Player of the match even though he did not feature on the starting six of TRENTINO at the beginning of the match. Lanza scored all of the crucial points towards the end of each set, thus scoring 10 times in total, including one block and two aces. • Wassim Ben Tara and Renee Teppan, i.e. the respective opposite hitters for CHAUMONT and TRENTINO, top scored with 13 points apiece. • It is the fifth home victory in as many matches with French opposition for TRENTINO, as they previously beat TOURS VB three times and BEAUVAIS Oise once. • In the next round of the competition, TRENTINO will play Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA or PGE Skra BELCHATOW. TRENTINO previously played Cucine Lube in the 2009 and 2016 semis – winning both matches – and in the Playoffs 6 of the 2012 edition as well. • This was the first home match for TRENTINO at PalaTrento after the venue changed its name to BLM Group Arena. Angelo Lorenzetti, head coach of TRENTINO Diatec: “It was not a high-level match as far as the performance is concerned, as we could all feel the pressure since there was so much at stake, but we managed to control our nerves during the crucial moments. A decisive week has started for us and I have decided to shuffle the cards on the table. We are happy with this wonderful night.”Silvano Prandi, head coach of CHAUMONT VB 52 Haute Marne: “Volleyball is a combination of factors; this means you can win courtesy of a block or of a service mistake. Many elements play a role in each rally and we did not do everything the best we could. The fact that my team gave up at the end of each set is very significant. That means that we are mentally below TRENTINO. Actually, I was hoping to take more advantage of their mistakes, but this night they were better than us. Now we have to leave the disappointment behind and congratulate our opponents and come back home in order to focus on the national championship.”

TODAY'S SCHEDULE Play-off 12, 2nd Leg Trentino Diatec - Chaumont VB 52 Haute Marne SEMIFINALS, 2nd LEG Asseco Resovia Rzeszow - Belogorie Belgorod Ziraat Bankasi Ankara - Calzedonia Verona