DEFENDING CHAMPION BELGOROD DEFEATED

Men's Indesit European Champions League 2004/05

Luxembourg, November 17, 2004. On the second day of the third week in the Men’s Indesit European Champions League 2004/05 defending champion Lokomotiv BELGOROD was defeated by Iraklis THESSALONIKI (GRE) whilst Dinamo MOSCOW beat PARIS Volley 3:0 and the other Greek team, Panathinaikos ATHENS kept the upper hand against Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD from Serbia Montenegro. 

The first clear result of the day came from Moscow where the hosting team, Dinamo MOSCOW, overthrew the French PARIS Volley, who was until then pool leader of group D, in a match that lasted just under an hour. Even though the Russians weren’t able to line up three of their star players due to injuries, namely Tereshin, Rudia and Kuleshov, they started off very convincingly with a six-point break (14-8). The French played more aggressively with Canadian middle blocker Murray Grapentine scoring several times, however, the Russian block resisted strongly, helping MOSCOW to take the first set home (25-19). Similar to the first set Dinamo took a quick lead with Taras Khtey scoring three points in a row on his serve. This time, however, PARIS Volley kept close until the critical score of 23-22 before Stanislav Dineykin (Dinamo MOSCOW) turned to serve, closing the set at 25-22. Playing steadier than in the first two sets without taking unnecessary risks the Russian champion safely secured the third set (25-14) thus the second clear set victory in the Indesit European Champions League 2004/05.
Iraklis THESSALONIKI confronted 2003/04 titleholder Lokomotiv BELGOROD (RUS) in Thessaloniki’s Municipal Gym of Euosmos. Preceding this high-level encounter Iraklis head coach Alekos Leonis claimed that there was no need for stress or anxiety: “We have to defeat the team that won the cup the year before with a line-up of many talented players who are the foundation of the national Russian squad. There is no need for us to worry as a victory will give us the benefit of qualifying and the defeat means nothing more than the need to keep up the effort.” Winning the first two sets in front of 2'500 spectators the Greeks were close to securing a straight set victory, however, BELGOROD resisted, catching up to 1:2. In a spectacular fourth set the home team took the upper hand to finally beat the Russian guests 3:1, nowleading Pool A with three victories. Zoran Gajic, head coach of the defeated team, admitted that Iraklis was too strong and that this year's Indesit European Champions League is on a very high level, making it difficult for every team to qualify for the playoffs.
In Pool B the other Greek team, Panathinaikos ATHENS, gained the upper hand against Serbia Montenegrin Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD in the presence of 1’700 spectators, which was their first victory in this strong competition. Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD started the match strongly, leading 6-0. Thanks to a good reception the host team resisted the Greeks’ strong serves. During this period Vojvodina also dominated at the block with their spikers Roljic and Djuric scoring in the attack so that Vojvodina won the firs set by 25-18. The second set experienced a turn in events when Serbia & Montenegro increasingly made mistakes and the guests on the other hand showed a better performance. Panathinaikos tied the score in sets winning the second 25-19. From then on ATHENS wasn’t to be stopped. Taking the third set 25-17 the guests started serving with more power so that NOVI SAD produced more mistakes at reception. After one hour and 45 minutes ATHENS finished as the winner (3:1). “The match was very tough but my team managed to find their concentration after the first set”, stated Stelios Kazazis, the coach of Panathinaikos ATHENS, after the match, “My players were better in defense, especially in blocking. In this pool there is no favorite so the competition will be interesting until the end of the preliminary pool rounds.” The captain of Panathinaikos, Sotirios Pantaleon, stated that this victory was very important to them because they had already lost the previous game: “We knew Vojvodina was a good team with two players from the national team and two players who played very well in the Greek championships some years ago. The reception was our opponent’s main problem.” Radovan Dabic, head coach of Vojvodina Novolin, was not satisfied: “We were trying to be better in attack but we should have improved our reception at first. We did not find the solution for stopping Novotny, however, nothing is over yet and we will not give up.” The best scorer was Jakub Novotny with 24 points.

 

Men’s Indesit European Champions League 2004/05, Pool rounds, 3^rd leg
Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Preliminary Pool A

Iraklis THESSALONIKI (GRE) - Lokomotiv BELGOROD (RUS)

3:1

25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 27-25

Preliminary Pool B

Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD (SCG) - Panathinaikos ATHENS (GRE)

1:3

25-18, 19-25, 17-25, 18-25

Preliminary Pool D

Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) - PARIS Volley (FRA)

3:0

25-19, 25-22, 25-14

To view the women's results from Wednesday, 17 November 2004 please click here.

More on the net (including live scores, statistics, match reports, photos and other information) at www.cev.lu

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Enjoy & Be There:
16-18 November 2004: Indesit European Champions League Women 2nd leg, Men 3rd leg, League Round, Various.
16-18 November 2004: Austrian Airlines Top Teams Cup Men, 2nd leg League Round, Various.
16-18 November 2004: Top Teams Cup Women, 2nd leg, League Round, Various.
23-25 November 2004: Indesit European Champions League Women 3rd leg, Men 4th leg, League Round, Various.
23-25 November 2004: Austrian Airlines Top Teams Cup Men, 3rd leg League Round, Various.
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27 November 2004: Women’s Senior European Championships 2005 Final Round Drawing of Lots, Zagreb, Croatia.
30 November - 2 December 2004: Indesit European Champions League Women 4th leg, Men 5th leg, League Round, Various.
30 November - 2 December 2004: Austrian Airlines Top Teams Cup Men, 4th leg League Round, Various.
30 November - 2 December 2004: Top Teams Cup Women, 4th leg, League Round, Various.
7-9 December 2004: Indesit European Champions League Women 5th leg, Men 6th leg, League Round, Various.
7-9 December 2004: Austrian Airlines Top Teams Cup Men, 5th leg League Round, Various.
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