Guests win four out of four in quarter-finals of the CEV Volleyball Cup Men

The reigning champions in the CEV Champions League Men, Trentino Itas, are continuing their match towards another European trophy, this time in the CEV Volleyball Club Men, after taking a 3:1 win in the first leg of the quarter-final against Chaumont VB 52.

Chaumont, one of the four sides which finished third in the CEV Champions League Men and ended up in the quarter-finals of the CEV Volleyball Club Men, was followed by the other three sides which have been playing in the European top competition, with all four conceding a loss in the first leg of the quarter-finals.

The closest to clinch a win were Knack Roeselare, the Belgian side which played against French side Tours VB. It looked like a walk in the park for Roeselare, which took the first sets in commanding fashion, 25:15 and 25:15, proving to be too strong for Tours.

Nevertheless, Tours came back in emphatic fashion. Boosted by 24 points from Alexandre Strehlau, the French side battled until the end in the pivotal third set, where Roeselare had four match balls.

They missed each one of them, proceeded to have two more, until Tours eventually took the set, 30:28. It proved to be the turning point of the match, as the French side went on to take the fourth set, 25:23, after yet another close set, with the fifth one being dominated clearly by Tours, 15:10, which took the 3:2 away win, shocking Roeselare.

Despite signing Earvin Ngapeth, who was the second-best scorer for Fenerbahçe Medicana Istanbul, with 13 points, the Turkish side was no match for Asseco Rzesovia Rzeszów.

Fenerbahçe took the first set, 25:22, but then the Polish side came back and dominated all the other three sets, powered by 18 points from Bartosz Bednorz and 13 points from Lukas Vasina.

With a 25:18 win in the second set, followed by two other sets won, 25:15 and 25:23, the Polish side is now with one step in the semi-finals of the competition, needing only two sets won against Fenerbahçe to secure their place in the next phase.

Trentino Itas might have lost the first set against Chaumont, 25:23, but rallied back and had no issues in the next three, 25:21, 25:17 and 25:19, clinching the 3:1 win, which enables the Italian side to need only two sets in the second leg to progress to the semi-finals.

Trentino had four players with at least 10 points – Daniele Lavia (14 points), Alessandro Michieletto (13 points), Flavio Guadalberto (12 points) and Bela Bartha (10 points) in their 3:1 win, which can see the Italian side earn back-to-back European trophies in consecutive seasons.

After eliminating Galatasaray and Guaguas Las Palmas, Ziraat Bank Ankara secured a 3:0 dominating win against ACH Volley Ljubljana, 25:21; 25:20; 25:19, to take a huge step towards the semi-finals.

Slovenian star Tonček Štern, who signed for Ziraat Bank Ankara in the last summer, provided 15 points for the Turkish side, with Trevor Clevenot adding 12 more points for a clear 3:0 win, where the Turkish side was only behind early in the first set, but mounted a spirited combeback.

The second legs of the four quarter-finals will take place on 25 and 26 February.