Lube Survived In Italian Quarterfinals, Thrilling Five Setter For Jastrzebski

This weekend was truly immense for the SuperFinalist Jastrzebski and the #CLVolleyM semifinalist Lube since both of them became victorious in five sets in the clashes they held in the domestic leagues, and Ziraat closed the regular season in Türkiye with a defeat.

As well as Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia, the SuperFinalist of this year’s CEV Champions League Volley Itas Trentino have already secured their spots in the semifinal round of the Italian SuperLega. On the other hand, for the remaining two spots, the competition continued this weekend, and both matchups were extended to the decisive last one.

One of the squads that said goodbye to the #CLVolleyM in the semifinal stage, Cucine Lube Civitanova, faced Mint Vero Volley Monza in the fourth game of the quarterfinals. Lube had to win the game to keep their national goals alive since they were 2-1 behind. Being aware of this, they put a great effort into the court and won the battle in the thrilling five-setter (3-2: 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-13).

Bulgarian outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov was honored with the MVP title in the game since he was the top scorer of the match with 24 points, alongside Cuban outside hitter Herrera Yant. Canadian Stephen Maar’s 23 points were not enough to advance to the next round on the losing side. Thanks to this victory, Lube tied the series to 2-2, and now the team that advances to the next round will become clear in the fifth and last game of this matchup.

The Polish SuperFinalist Jastrzebski Wegiel also had a challenging five-set game this weekend: In their 27th game in the Polish PlusLiga, they faced Slepsk Malow Suwalki. The Jastrzebski side was the clear pre-favorite of the match, but since both teams had so many ups and downs throughout the game, the clash was extended to the fifth set. At that point, Jastrzebski side showed how powerful they could become, and left the court with a 3-2 victory (3-2: 25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-8).

Both previous #CLVolleyM squads of Türkiye did not complete the regular phase of the Efeler League as they wanted: Halkbank Ankara and Ziraat Bank Ankara left the court by a four-set failure, against their closest followers, Fenerbahce PRL Istanbul and Galatasaray Istanbul, respectively. These results did not affect the overall standings of the teams, but now all top four squads will become an important candidate for this year’s national title.

The SuperFinalist Trentino is still waiting for their opponent in the Italian semifinals since Lube Civitanova managed to tie the series against Monza. The Jastrzebski and Ziraat also failed in their last domestic tests, but the failures had no effect on the place they stood in the charts.