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TRENTINO wins CEV Indesit Champions League!
Men's CEV Indesit Champions League 2008/09
Prague, April 5, 2009. In presence of FIVB President Jizhong Wei and CEV President André Meyer, TRENTINO Volley cruised to its first big European title winning the prestigious CEV Indesit Champions League 2009. In front of 12’000 delighted supporters in the magnificent O2 Arena in Prague, the Italians overpowered Iraklis THESSALONIKI in a hard-fought final match. Iskra ODINSTOVO claimed bronze after a thrilling five-setter against Lube Banca Marche MACERATA.
The gold medal match between TRENTINO Volley and Iraklis THESSALONIKI began in a tense atmosphere, as some incorrigible Greek fans once again didn’t respect the security restrictions in the crowded O2 Arena in Prague. However, this did not mean that the ambiance was embittered; more than 12’000 fans from all over Europe were encouraging their stars euphorically. Especially TRENTINO Volley got to work quickly, dominating their opponents from Greek in almost all aspects of the game in the first set (8-2, 16-6). Best blocker awarded Michal Winiarski displayed his awesome power at the net in blasting some fluid winners. Ribeiro on block moved the score forward in Italian’s favor. Emanuele Birarelli brought up set point with a breathtaking block kill on the right. Iskra saved the first with Aleh Akhrem spiking successfully, before Greek Marcus Nilsson send his serve wide giving TRENTINO a one-set lead.THESSALONIKI quickly pulled away in the second thanks to Andrej Kravarik’s sharp serves as well as good work from their block (5-2). But again the Greeks began to doubt, when the Italians came back to 7-7. Then Nikolaos Smaragdis was prominent at the net, Aleh Akhrem spiked athletically on the left, and Nilsson scorched one through on the right for 16-14 for THESSALONIKI. Setter Simon Tüscher got going for Iraklis, and a breakdown in the Italian attack moved the Greeks to 18-14. When Riao missed a service reception, TRENTINO was in serious trouble at 17-22. Akhrem maintained the pressure by scoring a service ace, bringing up set point, and, thanks to an Italian service fault, leveling the set score to 1-1. The match now balanced on a knife’s edge (12-12). Both teams having extraordinary power in all phases of the third game, and they were slugging it out like two heavyweights as the scoreboard moved along rapidly. Italian Vissotto used all his court craft to outfox the Greek block and defense and took TRENTINO to a three-point lead, 19-16. The Italian stars mixed up their attacks to keep the Greek defense on their toes, and Vissotto again hammered hard for a 22-20 TRENTINO lead. But THESSALONIKI came back strongly, scoring through the middle to turn around the score in their favor (23-22). However, it was not enough, super star Nikolai Grbic blocked for a first TRENTINO set ball at 24-23. Iraklis saved the first, but MVP Matey Kaziyski closed it out from the left for a 2:1 Italian lead. Kaziyski and Vissotto quickly added some points on TRENTINO’s account early in the fourth set, forcing Iraklis head coach Flavio Gulinelli to react with an early timeout. In reply, Nilsson creamed one down, before Akhrem brought up two winners to level it at 10-10. But TRENTINO forced the pace, leading again 16-12 at the second technical timeout, and not even the livewire Greek Libero Denison could come close to digging another steeply angled spike from Kaziyski, who was launching a personal crusade to end it soon (19-16). Incredibly, the Greeks rallied back to 19-19 and 22-22, but when Kaziyski came up with two service winners, the match and 2009 CEV Indesit Champions League were over with TRENTINO Volley’s first big European title in its first participation.
In the bronze medal match, Iskra ODINSTOVO edged Lube Banca Marche MACERATA in a thrilling five-setter 3:2. Once again, the atmosphere in the O2 Arena was great, with the MACERATA fans singing and chanting for their idols. The Italians were off to the better start thanks to Sebastian Swiderski (11-8, 19-15), but ODINSTOVO kept close the distance. Giba came in for Denis Kalinin, and when Swiderski had no luck with a hammer from the left, Italian head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi called a time-out (20-19). The Russians kept pressing, making it 21-21 and 23-22. Jochen Schöps brought up set point on the right and Anton Astashenko finished it for the Russians with a block kill in the middle (25-23). Things remained close in the second set (7-7, 10-10). Two aces from Schöps gave ODINSTOVO a two-point lead. Giba had come to life, firing a blistering winner from back row to 19-16, and then from the left (22-21). The Russians proved nerves of steel after two mistakes, 25-23 and 2:0 ODINSTOVO. The team of head coach Zoran kept the rhythm in the third set, putting a lot of pressure on the Italian reception (6-1). The Russians went up 16-12 and 19-15 thanks to brilliant work from Schöps and Giba, with MACERATA’s block too tardily. An Alexey Kuleshov missile trough the middle resulted in four match points, but – almost unimaginable – MACERATA bounced back marvelously. The team of head coach De Giorgi countered not less than eight (!) match balls, before a Gianluca Saraceni block kill as well as a Giba fault re-raised the Italian hopes (30-28). As MACERATA now burned their turbo with Natale Monopoli replacing starting setter Valerio Vermiglio (25-21 win in the fourth set), the fifth set had to decide on the 2009 CEV Indesit Champions League bronze medal winner. When Giba blocked for 5-5 and Russian setter Alexander Butko scored with a service ace, the momentum switched to ODINSTOVO’s side (8-6). Giba again hammered one over for 10-8. Rodrigo tried to lift MACERATA with a monster block for 11-12, and Igor Omrcen tied it at 12-12. But the Russians finally kept cool; closing it in extremis 17-15 after an Omrcen attack touching the antenna.
“The Czech Volleyball Federation invested huge amount of its possibilities and resources to prepare the best possible conditions for smooth and technically perfect course of this high level event of European volleyball clubs”, said CVF and OC President Antonin Lébl. “The Men’s CEV Indesit Champions League Final Four belongs to the centerpieces of our endeavor and serves at the same time to the preparation and verification of all measures and organizing routines that will be subsequently applied in organizing the European Championships 2011 preliminary Pools and quarter-finals matches here in the O2 Arena in Prague.”
Thanks to the exceptional positioning of the CEV Indesit Champions League, the strong desire of the best European clubs to reach a high-level sports quality label as well as the precious partnerships created with sponsors and partners, the CEV Indesit Champions’ League stands out as one of the main sports events in Europe right now. Being the strongest volleyball club competition in the world, the CICL enjoys a continuous increase in public interest and spectators’ attendance, mainly thanks to the growing publicity and marketing efforts that the CEV has been performing in unison with the participating clubs during the past years.
Final classification
1. TRENTINO Volley
2. Iraklis THESSALONIKI
3. Iskra ODINSTOVO
4. Luba Banca Marche MACERATA
Best Player Awards
Best Receiver: Plamen Konstantinov (BUL, Iraklis THESSALONIKI)
Best Server: Emanuele Birarelli (ITA, TRENTINO Volley)
Best Setter: Alexander Butko (RUS, Iskra ODINTSOVO)
Best Libero: Alexey Verbov (RUS, Iskra ODINTSOVO)
Best Blocker: Michal Winiarski (POL, Trentino Volley)
Best Spiker: Martin Lebl (CZE, Lube Banca Marche MACERATA)
Best Scorer: Jochen Schöps (GER, Iskra ODINTSOVO)
MVP: Matey Kaziyski (BUL, TRENTINO Volley)
For results, pictures and further information on the CEV Indesit Champions League 2008/09 please click here.
To visit the official homepage of the 2009 Men’s CEV Indesit Champions League Final Four, please click here.
Men’s CEV Indesit Champions League 2008/09
Final Four in Prague (CZE)
Results
Sunday, 5 April, 2009: Finals
Gold medal match: Iraklis THESSALONIKI vs. TRENTINO Volley 1:3 (12-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-22)
Bronze medal match: Iskra ODINTSOVO vs. Lube Banca Marche MACERATA 3:2 (25-23, 25-23, 28-30, 21-25, 17-15)
Saturday, 4 April, 2009: Semi-finals
Iskra ODINTSOVO vs. Iraklis THESSALONIKI 1:3 (25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 23-25)
TRENTINO Volley vs. Lube Banca Marche MACERATA 3:0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-23)
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Re: "After a great battle, Bulgaria defeats Italy" [re: Kpakpa]
