Bled and Innsbruck write history and qualify for the Playoffs 6 while Kazan, Macerata and Friedrichshafen are out of Champions league 2009/2010.
ACH Volley BLED wrote tonight the most important page in the history of Slovenian Volleyball: after having clipped the first match 3:2 last week in Ljubljana, the team of Glenn Hoag defeated tonight again Lube Banca Marche MACERATA with the same score, hence qualifying for the Playoffs 6 of the CEV Indesit Champions League. The Palasport Fontescodella was close to the “sold out” and very colourful, also thanks to the presence of almost 300 fans that had arrived from Slovenia: a big party was celebrated on the court for them at the end of the match. The night went on with a very long and balanced game till the tiebreak. In the last set, after the block of Petkovic for the 9:7, Italian coach De Giorgi lined up the spikers Swiderski and Martino. After a tie at 9, BLED enjoyed an additional break with the ace of Venno (14-12) and then finished the jobt at 15-12. The visiting coach Glenn Hoag added: “We have a young team but very strong. I am really happy for the result and for this qualification, especially because we got it against one of the most important clubs in the world. The setter Petkovic changed our rhythm of playing from the fourth set, finally this made the difference in the game”.
Russian Zenit KAZAN outplayed Olympiacos PIRAEUS in tiebreak but that was not enough to qualify for the Playoffs 6 after the Greeks had scored a 3:1 in the first match-up staged last week. Ivan Miljkovic was tonight again on a class of his own. He played off of the blocks or even played well over the hands. Both teams did perform at their best. “I’m not satisfied with the quality of the game, – said the head coach of Olympiacos PIRAEUS, Ioannis Kalmazidis. – We played the home match much better. Nevertheless I’m glad we qualified for the Playoffs 6”.
After the 3-1 loss last week in Trento, Knack Randstad ROESELARE knew what to do. Only a 3:0 victory could have brought the qualification for the Playoffs 6. Not an obvious task for the team of coach Dominique Baeyens. Knack Randstad had the best start, they kept scoring through the middle (25:25 and 26:26) but Kaziyski finished the first set (26-28). Knack didn’t give up in second set and made it 1:1. In set three both teams kept the set in balance but Juantorena kept scoring in attack and finished the set 21-25. With this set TRENTINO was already qualified for the Playoffs 6. A lot of substitutes came in in set four. At that moment Kristof Hoho entered the court and scored his first European point. But it was all in vain. TRENTINO’s substitutes kept control of the operations and Riad finished the match with an ace.
Poland’s Asseco Resovia RZESZOW easily outclassed CSKA SOFIA and qualified for the Playoffs 6. After the important victory achieved in Bulgaria (3:1) Asseco Resovia was clearly in a very favorable position and could play without additional tension.“I am very delighted with this victory. Moreover, I am also satisfied that this victory did not cost my team a lot of energy as we have a very important game against Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE in the Polish league this Saturday. This season is very tough for us as almost all the games we have been playing are important, especially at that stage of the season. But this is also something we have to learn as all the classy teams are used to play tough games every Wednesday and Saturday” ended Ljubo Travica, the head coach of the Rzeszow.
Champions league results and ranking
from CEV
