Home teams clinch wins to reach the semi-finals of the CEV Volleyball Cup Men

The four home sides in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the CEV Volleyball Cup Men doubled down on their away wins secured two weeks ago to progress to the semi-finals of the competition, with none of the four teams entering the competition from the CEV Champions League Men securing their tickets to the penultimate act.

On paper, the toughest clash looked to be the one between Tours VB and Knack Roeselare, where the Belgian side had a 2:0 lead in sets and a 21:17 lead in the third set in the first leg, which could have sealed their win. But Tours came back and won the next three sets, becoming the favourites on their home court.

However, there was no place for a surprise here, despite Roeselare starting the second leg with an 8:3 lead. Tours immediately bounced back and balanced the first set, winning four of the last five points to clinch a 25:21 win.

Needing all the three sets without dropping more than one, Tours relied on Antoine Pothron, who had 12 points, and provided a 52% efficiency in the second set, which they took, 25:19.

Done, but not dusted, Roeselare tried their mightiest in the third set, but a meagre 38% attacking efficiency, as well as plenty of errors  were their undoing, as Tours progressed to the semi-finals with a clear 3:0 win, their second in two weeks against Roeselare.

The reigning champions in the CEV Champions League Men, Trentino Itas, which failed to make the cut for the top European competition due to missing the podium in the Italian league, confirmed their favourite status to secure back-to-back European trophies, clinching their second win against French side Chaumont VB 52.

While Trentino used all the available players, with Kamil Rychlicki (14 points) and Alessandro Michieletto (13 points) starring, they had no issue of disposing of the French side, with a clear 3:0 home win.

Trentino only had small issues in the first set, which they took 25:21, followed by two other clear wins in the next sets, 25:16 and 25:18, with an attacking efficiency of over 50%, reaching 64% in the third set.

Trentino will face Turkish side Ziraat Bank Ankara, which had featured in the final of the CEV Volleyball Cup Men in the 2017/18 season and the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup Men in the 2020/21 season.

This time around,  Ziraat Bank Ankara, which were Champions League semi-finalists last season, have an eight-match winning streak, after disposing of ACH Volley Ljubljana in the first leg, 3:0, and taking another 3:2 win in the second leg, after clinching the semi-final spot by winning the first two sets.

Ziraat Bank took the first sets, 25:20 and 25:18, before conceding the next two sets, 20:25 and 23:25. Toncek Stern had 19 points, as many as Trevor Clevenot, as Ziraat Bank eventually took the fifth set, 15:13, after stopping a Ljubljana comeback.

Reigning champions Asseco Resovia Rzeszów were the fourth qualified team in the semi-finals, due to meet Tours VB in the penultimate act of the competition, after a highly competitive encounter against Fenerbahçe Medicana Istanbul.

After a 3:1 win in the first leg, Asseco Resovia lost the first set, 17:25, which put some pressure on the Polish side. But Asseco Resovia delivered some excellent volleyball in the next sets, posting an efficiency of 50%, 65% and 56% in the next three sets.

With Stephen Boyer scoring 13 points, Asseco Resovia took the second set, 25:19, the third one, 25:21, and clinched the win, 25:19, in the fourth one, making the semi-finals for the second consecutive season, as Earvin Ngapeth had only 12 points for the Turkish side.