CEV Cup Squads In Russia and Italy overpowering Champions League Teams
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This weekend, two CEV Champions League Volley participants, Lokomotiv Novosibirsk and Diatec Trentino, suffered defeats in their domestic leagues against the CEV Cup representatives.
Lokomotiv faced Zenit Kazan in the eighth round of the Russian Men’s Superleague. Although the Lokomotiv side took the first set, Zenit Kazan won the next ones and the encounter easily (3-1: 26-28, 25-16, 25-19, 25-18).
Therefore, there are no unbeaten teams left in Russia, and Zenit Kazan became the new leader of the overall standings with seven wins and 22 points in eight matches. Having their first defeat, Lokomotiv fell down to the second place, followed by the other CEV Champions League Volley competitor with one loss, Dinamo Moscow.
Russian star Maxim Mikhaylov top-scored in the fight with 20 points, while Serbian Drazen Luburic was the only player who scored in double digits on the losing side with 12.
The last SuperFinalist Diatec Trentino was another team who failed this weekend in the domestic league.
The CEV Cup squad Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena beat Trentino in three sets (3-0: 28-26, 25-15, 25-22) in the seventh week of the Italian SuperLega, mostly thanks to their two European stars.
Dutch star Nimir Abdel-Aziz and Russian Earvin Ngapeth showed outstanding performances in three sets: They led Modena for third win with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Both 20-year-old Alessandro Michieletto and Italian outside hitter Daniele Lavia tallied 13 points for Trentino.
CEV Champions League representatives of Portugal and Germany continued their invincibility streak in their domestic leagues.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Berlin Recycling Volleys both achieved ninth victories and kept their perfect record by prevailing over their opponents in four sets.
Turkish CEV Champions League Volley clubs, Fenerbahçe HDI Istanbul and Ziraat Bankasi Ankara also became victorious in their battles by 3-1 this weekend. They placed second and third on the standings, behind the Challenge Cup participant, Halkbank Ankara.