Perugia Took The Third Title Of The Season, No Surprises in Türkiye & Germany

This weekend, all eyes were on the Italian Cup final four clashes, and Perugia took the third gold medal of the season and continued to become the most important team in Italy, while Halkbank and BR Volleys won their last domestic matches before #CLVolleyM playoff stage without any difficulties.

Italian Cup semifinals and final battles took place this weekend and including the CEV Champions League Volley Men quarterfinalist Itas Trentino; Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia, Allianz Milano, and Vero Volley Monza fought against each other to stand at the top of the podium.

The semifinal matches were held on Saturday, and each of them extended to the tie-break set: In the first one, Perugia passed Milano by 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11) and booked their place on the grand final. Wassim Ben Tara (21 points) and Sebastian Sole (7 blocks) clearly stood out with their performances and led their team to this victory. Later on, Trentino and Monza faced off, and with a superior game in the tie-break set, the Monza side advanced to the next stage. Eric Loeppky (21 points) and Arthur Szwarc (16 points) showed notable performances on the winning side.

The final battle started quite well for the Monza side, and they found a 1-0 lead in sets after a win by 25-22. After that point, the Perugia side started to perform better and started to play their usual strong game, and they took their fourth Italian Cup in their history in four sets (3-1: 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-23). In addition, after the Italian Super Cup and FIVB Club World Championships, it became Perugia’s third title this season.

Kamil Semeniuk became the top scorer of Perugia with 18 points in total and 59% attack performance, followed by Wassim Ben Tara (16) and Flavio Resende (15). However, one player made outstanding moves throughout the match that affected the result more than statistics: Ukrainian outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi was honored as the MVP of the tournament, primarily thanks to his energy, as well as 14 points in the final, including two aces and one block.

Before their first playoff clash against the reigning #CLVolleyM titleholder Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Turkish Halkbank Ankara met Tursad Belediyespor in the 17th round of Turkish Efeler League, and they remained undefeated and completed the weekend in the first place with a straight-set victory (3-0: 25-19, 25-17, 25-18). Similarly, prior to their playoff game against Tours VB, Berlin Recycling Volleys defeated Bitterfeld by 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-19), and they maintained the top position in the charts with a 15-1 win/loss record.