News
Club Volleyball News
The first quarterfinal clashes are on the way in #CLVolleyM, and the top eight teams of Europe have already started to focus on their vital battle at the continental level. While most of the teams will try this weekend to challenge themselves against relatively weaker opponents, Ziraat Bank Ankara will hold an essential clash in Türkiye.
The champions of Group A in CEV Champions League Volley, Ziraat Bank Ankara, will meet the CEV Cup semifinalist Fenerbahce PRL Istanbul in the 20th week of the Turkish Efeler League. With a perfect record in the pool phase, the Ziraat side completed the group round in the top position and secured their spot in the quarterfinals. Before facing Spanish Guaguas Las Palmas, they will now fully focus on decreasing the gap in domestic standings.
Just behind the unbeaten Halkbank Ankara, Fenerbahce ranked second in charts with only one failure, from the leader. Ziraat side suffered four defeats so far; some of them were unexpected, but the point difference between these two teams is only five. Thus, it will be a good opportunity for Ziraat to move closer to Fenerbahce in order to complete the regular season in second place. The aim is similar for Fenerbahce: By passing their closest follower, they will undoubtedly want to maintain their position and keep following the leaders, Halkbank.
All Italian superpowers had also already booked their places in the #CLVolleyM quarterfinals, and one of them will also show an outstanding performance in the domestic league as well: The current top-placed club, Itas Trentino, will take the court against Modena, aiming for a straight-set victory.
On the other hand, this will be different for other quarterfinalists, Gas Sales Daiko Piacenza and Cucine Lube Civitanova. Even though things were going well for them, they both suffered defeats in their last domestic fights: Lube did not reach Trentino's level and received a 3-1 loss, and Piacenza took a four-set defeat from Verona. Therefore, since their next opponents will be relatively weaker compared to previous ones, they will fully seek to leave the court with a comfortable victory.
All eyes will entirely focus on the first #CLVolleyM quarterfinal battles next week, but before that, the most elite teams of the continent will try to pass their last battles by receiving wins in order to show their full strength and good game. Do not forget to keep an eye on Türkiye and Italy to watch some top-notch volleyball action.