SVG LÜNEBURG braced to take on hard-fighting Greek opponents in #CEVCupM quarter-finals

After failing to progress from the group stage of the elite CEV Champions League, Germany’s SVG LÜNEBURG continue their European journey in the quarterfinals of the men’s CEV Cup where they play AONS Milon NEA Smyrni ATHENS. This is a large amateur sports club (with some 1,700 active players across nine divisions) from the city of Nea Smyrni, just south of the Athens metropolitan area. 

Founded in 1928, they are not one of Europe’s top teams, and even in the Greek league (where they currently sit in fourth place) they have found it difficult to challenge heavyweights such as Olympiacos PIRAEUS, Panathinaikos ATHENS, PAOK and Iraklis THESSALONIKI, winners of the national championship since the dawn of this century. Olympiacos alone has topped the charts as many as 12 times. However, they remain a hard nut to crack for the German team, especially keeping in mind their fighting spirit and morale. 

Close results time and again in CEV Cup

This quality was once again evident in the Playoff round. After a registering a 3-2 home win against NANTES Rezé Métropole, the Greeks lost the second leg by the same score (17-19 in the tie-break) before emerging victorious 15-13 at the Golden Set after playing for a whopping 162 minutes! On their homepage, this event is celebrated as ‘one of the most successful evenings of Greek volleyball at club level’. Should they progress to the semis of the CEV Cup, this would potentially lead to a derby with Olympiacos. PIRAEUS, however, will first have to edge Arkas IZMIR, whose roster includes German legend Georg Grozer. 

Earlier in the Round of 16, SWD powervolleys DÜREN had felt the strength of Milon, losing 1-3 at home (25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 23-25) and were unable to turn it around in the second leg, as the Greeks won the decisive third set 26-24. The fourth and fifth sets won by DÜREN did not have much meaning anyway. Milon also scattered close results in the previous rounds: 3-0 and 2-3 against SK Zadruga AICH/DOB from Austria and 3-1 and 3-2 against Volley SCHÖNENWERD from Switzerland. But the ‘LüneHünen’ are also very familiar with tie-break games.

The heyday of Milon dates back a long time, to the early 1960s: national champions in 1961/1962 and 1963/1964, runners-up in 1962/1963 and third in 1960/1961. After a long slump, the club has only recently made headlines again, reaching the cup semi-finals in 2022/2023 and the play-off semi-finals in the national league as well (where they suffered three defeats against eventual champions Olympiacos). Last season, the team competed in the CEV Challenge Cup, but was eliminated in the first round. In the years before that, Milon finished fifth and sixth after returning to the first division, meaning they have improved place by place. Until the team was promoted again in 2020 under head coach Athanasios Psarras, who is still in charge today, it had many ups and downs, sometimes staying in the top-flight for one, sometimes two seasons, sometimes for a few more years.

Into the next competition as a bonus

SVG LÜNEBURG are now entering new territory in this eventful season and, after a satisfactory debut in the Champions League, they regard the CEV Cup as a bonus. However, the anticipation was severely dampened on Sunday by the injury to Matt Knigge. The middle blocker is out for the quarter-final first leg this Wednesday (7 pm) and only time will tell how long his recovery will take. 

In the match against Haching, Knigge collapsed with a cry at the end of the first set during a block attempt after landing on an opponent’s foot and twisting his ankle. After returning from Bavaria, an MRI scan at least clarified that it was not a bony injury. It therefore remains to be seen how long the American will be out for. In any case, this is bitter news, because the 27-year-old is one of the absolute mainstays of the German team, has been in top form for weeks and is irreplaceable.

Loss of Matt Knigge spoils the anticipation

The usual starting six will therefore not be able to line up against the Greeks from the greater Athens area, which is also unfortunate because after months of games in a three-day cycle, last week was finally an opportunity for a regular training session that was not interrupted by any matches or travel. Moreover, catching their breath against opponents not from the top shelf visibly did some of the players good.

In the Greek league, the expected sixth win in 10 matches was achieved at the weekend with a commanding 3-0 against the team second to last in the table. This means, Milon remain in fourth place, with Olympiacos and Panathinaikos leading the way. The 18-year-old outside hitter Alexandros Nanopoulos was the outstanding player with 22 points. He is currently playing for the recently operated Ukrainian international Tymofii Poluian, who has had shoulder problems for some time. Otherwise, the top scorer is the 40-year-old veteran Bulgarian opposite Boyan Yordanov. 

Other players to watch out for are outside hitter Pedro Molina from Puerto Rico and Canadian setter Luke Herr, both of whom are also outstanding servers. “They are not a great team, but they can fight and have a good spirit,” said SVG head coach Stefan Hübner, describing the opponents. Impressions that he also had confirmed by the coach of Milon’s last opponent: “NANTES is coached by an old companion from my time in Italy.” After a 2-3 defeat in the first leg and a 3-2 win in the second leg, which should have been clearer, NANTES eventually lost 13-15 in the Golden Set. “They live from a strong collective, not from outstanding individual players,” said Hübner with respect - even more so since the loss of his key player, Matt Knigge.