Calcit KAMNIK, CV GRAN CANARIA and THIRAS among winners in #CEVCupW 16th Finals
News
The #CEVCupW fixtures played on Wednesday night delivered a number of very exciting matches, as some teams made their European debut this season and others are looking for redemption after failing to reach the pool stage of the elite CEV Champions League.
Calcit KAMNIK needed 115 minutes to edge Viteos NEUCHATEL UC and secure a tight five-set home win (25-20, 25-27, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10) over the current Swiss champions. Lucille Charuk of Calcit was the match top scorer with 21 points and seven blocks, as rising talent Fatoumatta Sillah followed next with 17. On the opposite side of the net, Tiata Scamray recorded 18 points, Barbara Đapić two less. Both Calcit KAMNIK and Viteos NEUCHATEL UC had claimed their national league title last season and started this year’s European campaign in the Champions League. The teams from Slovenia and Switzerland had both lost to Ukraine’s SC Prometey DNIPRO – in the second and third round, respectively.
Gregor Rozman, head coach of Calcit Volley: “Even if we had lost today, it was only the first half of the series. We know exactly what is awaiting us in Switzerland, and we knew that before this game, now even more so. This victory is otherwise beautiful, gorgeous, and I am happy for us, but we are only halfway there. We could see that the Swiss play a typical American way of Volleyball, with a solid block-defence and an extremely fast game that we in Europe are not accustomed to so much. We adapted to this game, but we made too many of our own errors, which we will have to avoid in the return match.”
Eva Pavlović Mori“We made too many unnecessary mistakes. We could finish the match in an hour and a half - that is in three sets. The Swiss showed good Volleyball, but they locked both sets thanks to our mistakes. Despite this, it is a home win, and we are going to Switzerland with a minimal advantage. We know how they play, so I believe we can come back with all three points and yes, if we do so, we will continue our European journey.”
Setter of Calcit KAMNIK
A.O. THIRAS Santorini enjoyed a dream start to their campaign in the CEV Cup as they stormed to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-16) win in their home match with VC OUDEGEM of Belgium. Even though they had to come from behind in the first set, where they trailed 3-8, the hosts soon found their rhythm, levelled the score at 11-all and eventually claimed the first set at 25-23 after a very close fight. VC OUDEGEM rushed to a 4-0 lead in the second set but using the opponent’s mistakes to their advantage, A.O. THIRAS quickly changed the course of the game (11-5, 16-7) and despite a late comeback by the Belgians, the hosts won the second set as well (25-20). The third set was an easy ride for the home team – who need to take another two sets from the re-match next week in Belgium to seal their spot in the 8th Finals.
The most emotional moment of the night came at the end of the match, when all the athletes of Santorini went to see Maria Ioanna Kalapoda, who due to an injury could not play, and under a warm applause, dedicated the impressive European victory to their unfortunate teammate.
Top scorer of the match for the winners was Canadian opposite Aandrea Mitrovic with 19 points, followed by Symone Abbott with 13, while Nikita De Paepe was the only player of VC OUDEGEM to finish in double digits (11).
Konstantinos Papadopoulos, head coach of A.O. THIRAS: “We were all excited as a club, athletes, administration, technical staff that we would play again after so long in Europe and the most important thing was that we managed to combine our return with a victory. Even more important is that we delivered a good and consistent performance throughout the match. We managed to put VC OUDEGEM under pressure with our serve, to force our opponents to move away from the net and to look for predictable solutions. Today - especially compared to the last match - we had more patience and all this shows a very good course of development. Our opponent is a very good team and in general, Belgian volleyball is modern, it has principles and I think we took a very important step to qualify. We are trying to leave behind any result, a few days ago, we lost from Aris, today we had to play a European match and in a few days, we will play with Panathinaikos.”
Lamprini Konstantinidou“We are very happy with our performance and our victory. But mainly we are happy because we see that the work we do pays off and we start to win game by game.”
Setter of A.O. THIRAS Santorini
Fien Callens, head coach of VC OUDEGEM: “We started well, we had a good rhythm and reaction, but in the end we made some mistakes under the pressure of our opponents, who were stronger and in better physical condition. Today’s match was a good experience for all of us, but we have to study in order to show ourselves in a better way, which will raise the level of my team’s game. I look forward to analysing our mistakes in the video and to the rematch in Belgium.”
Elsewhere, CV GRAN CANARIA of Spain re-started their European campaign with a 3-1 home victory over Nova KBM Branik MARIBOR (25-14, 25-19, 19-25, 25-11). The hosts showed a very solid and consistent performance from the start until the end of the match – and they deserved to emerge victorious in four sets to have an edge ahead of the re-match scheduled for next week in Maribor.
Pascual Saurín“I think we started very well, working very hard for every point and serving very well. With the third set, the course of the match changed, and MARIBOR started to play better. In the fourth set, we regained more stability in the serve. The second leg will be very tough, and we will have to remain focused to get through the tie.”
Head coach of CV GRAN CANARIA