Crucial Win For ZAKSA, Lube Took Fourth Consecutive Defeat
News
This weekend, the reigning CEV Champions League Volley titleholder ZAKSA took a critical victory in their domestic league, while Lube suffered another shocking defeat after a five-set thriller in Italy.
Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle hosted the current leader of the domestic league, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow, in the 22nd round of the Polish PlusLiga. Despite the third set, CEV Champions League Volley playoff squad played a better game and became victorious by 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19).
Polish superstars of the squad, Bednorz Bartosz and Lukasz Kaczmarek, led their teams with their performances, scoring 19 and 16 points, respectively. Klemen Cebulj was the only player who scored in double digits on the losing side.
With this victory, ZAKSA took their 16th victory and closed the gap between the leaders. Rzeszow is still in the top position, but due to this defeat, they took serious damage in the league.
ZAKSA’s opponent in the CEV Champions League Volley playoffs, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, visited GKS Katowice this weekend. Even though Patrick Laba performed well on the court, they unexpectedly lost the match by a score of 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-19) and took their fifth defeat.
Another surprising failure of CEV Champions League Volley participants happened in Italy: The leader of Pool C, Cucine Lube Civitanova, faced WithU Verona in the 17th round of the Italian SuperLega. Verona side found a 2-0 lead in the match, but Civitanova made an impressive comeback and tied the score to 2-2. However, after a breathtaking tie-break set, Verona won the battle by 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 20-25, 15-12).
With this loss, Civitanova took their fourth consecutive defeat in the league, and the gap between them and the leaders were extended. Noumory Keita became the match's top scorer with 29 points, including four blocks. Herrera Yant’s 21 points were not enough for Civitanova to victory.
Other CEV Champions League Volley teams, Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia and Itas Trentino, won clear victories by 3-0 and passed the weekend without letting any surprises happen.