FIRST DEFEAT FOR IRAKLIS THESSALONIKI

Men's Indesit European Champions' League 2004/05

Luxembourg, January 5, 2005. On the final day of the Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League 2004/05 eighth week Russian Lokomotiv BELGOROD was responsible for the first defeat of Iraklis THESSALONIKI from Greece beating them 3:1. The other participating Greek team Panathinaikos ATHENS won their match 3:1 against the Serbs from NOVI SAD whilst the Russians from Dinamo MOSCOW were beaten by PARIS Volley from France in four sets. The German team of SCC BERLIN won their Pool C encounter against Spanish Unicaja ALMERIA whilst VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN had to surrender to Belgian Noliko MAASEIK in Pool A. Other winners included JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel from Poland over Bulgarian Levski Siconco SOFIA (3:0), as well as Italian Sisley TREVISO over Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK from Austria. 

The first Indesit European Champions’ League match in 2005 was the upset for Greek Iraklis THESSALONIKI as they were defeated for the first time in this season, namely by the defending champion Lokomotiv BELGOROD from Russia. With the 3:1-victory Gennady Shipulin’s team improved its position in Pool A as well as increasing their chances for qualifying to the play-off. Nobody from the 5,000 spectator crowd in the Sport Palace Cosmos was disappointed this evening as both teams showed a high quality performance. At the end, however, the BELGOROD “lions” proved stronger than the “Herculeses” from Greece. Following BELGOROD’s last two defeats with two of its main starting six players not being able to compete due to illness the Lokomotiv was fully armed this time, giving no chance to the team coached by Alexandros Leonis to resist. Only in the first set could THESSALONIKI withstand but in the following three the hosting squad seemed unstoppable. Practically each player on court scored more than one ace. In the third set Arkady Kozlov booked three points in a row on his serve, adding to the total 16 points his team scored alone on serves, whilst the Greeks totalled seven service points. Lokomotiv’s best scorer Alexander Kosarev booked 19 points to the success of his team whilst Alejandro Spajic succeeded in attack eleven times and three times in block. Team captain Sergey Tetyukhin scored 11 points. For Iraklis the game was dominated by Clayton Stanley, Tontor Baev and Marios Gkiourdas (17, 15 and 13 points respectively). “It was a really tough battle tonight because two national teams fought against one another: the Greek and the American”, stated BELGOROD’s head coach Gennady Shipulin, “About two months ago we lost to Iraklis. One of the reasons for this defeat was my absence, but today I was with the team and all the main players were on the court, so there you see the result.” The next and the last opponent of Lokomotiv in the main pool phase will be Polska Energia SOSNOWIEC. Gennady Shipulin reckons that “we must not underestimate this team because the Polish are very mobile and quick on court.”
In the other Pool A match Noliko MAASEIK strived to victory against German VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN in a game that was marked by few rallies and many mistakes. Backed up by the support of 4,000 fans the home team Noliko MAASEIK took a dream start (5-3, 9-4, 11-6) with setter Vital Heynen distributing precisely, Jan-Willem Roex scoring from the middle position, Mathias Reymaekers blocking excellently, and Joao Bravo performing intelligently, so that FRIEDRICHSHAFEN were forced to react in defense. The start of the second set brought a different game with the home team constantly trailing behind (8-12, 10-16, 16-23). Elvis Contreras was responsible for the change in score putting Noliko’s libero Domingos Barbosa under pressure by strong jump serving. At 10-18 Mikko Esko came in to replace setter Vital Heynen but the Germans managed to successfully defend their five-point lead until the end of the second set (17-25). Although the Belgians committed many individual errors throughout the third set they still took the 2:1 lead due to better service and blocking action. The score remained balanced during the fourth set until 21-19 when the MAASEIK trio Raymaekers-Bravo-Augusto blocked to perfection. Even the aggressive play of Contreras couldn’t harm the home favourites anymore so that Noliko have saved their chance for qualifying to the next round. “If we manage to beat the Polish team (Polska Energia SOSNOWIEC) we’ll have booked four victories which makes the qualification feasible”, stated Noliko MAASEIK manager René Corstjens optimistically.
Panathinaikos ATHENS can be happy as they guaranteed second place in Pool B after their 3:1- victory against Serbian NOVI SAD, hence a definite spot in the first play-off round. Even though Panathinaikos won the first two sets their usual best players weren’t performing well this time, giving the Serbs the opportunity to come back. However, only one point before the tie break would have had to decide (21-24) Greek spiker Elias Lappas saved his team by equalizing the set, scoring three points from three serves. The Greek head coach was extremely relieved after the match: “We made some stupid mistakes which disturbed our tactics. On the one hand we were unlucky because none of our good players played well, but, on the other hand, we were lucky when Lappas managed to turn the tables in the fourth set with an excellent performance from the service position.” Panathinaikos’ captain Sotiris Pantaleon shared a similar opinion: “We should have been more careful but the only thing that matters now is the victory and our qualification”. Vojvodina’s head coach Radovan Dabic couldn’t believe what happened: “We managed to stop Novotny who had been the best player of our opponents today. Murek didn’t perform as well as usual. We also ignored the fact that Panathinaikos was leading us 2:0, but we lost a set from being 24-21 in the lead! This is a disaster as it’s already the third if not fourth match that we have lost in such a way.” Finally the captain of Vojvodina Strahinja Kozic stated: “We knew that Panathinaikos was the favourite but we didn’t stop believing in our chance during the match. We tried very hard but were unlucky at the end of the fourth set.” Elias Lappas topped the score for Panathinaikos (18 points), whilst Djorje Djuric scored 16 points for Vojvodina.
In other Pool B action JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel from Poland overthrew Bulgarian Levski Siconco SOFIA in straight sets, booking their third victory in the Indesit European Champions’ League. With both teams still fighting for a place in the next play-off round the game was tied only at the beginning before Victor and Jose Rivera scored the key points for the Polish champion. Then Przemyslaw Michalczyk virtually demolished the opponents booking four points in a row at the start of the second set (8-4). Even though the guest coach Lubomir Gerasimov took a time-out this didn’t help his team as the home squad continued to dominate the game with powerful serves, a better reception and effective attacks. Keeping a safe five-point advantage throughout the second set JASTRZEBSKI finally finished 25-16. The third set was a mere formality for the Poles allowing the Bulgarians but 19 points (25-19). “It was more difficult playing in Sofia than at home”, stated JASTRZEBSKI’s head coach Igor Prielozny, “all of our players performed well, especially during the second set, so that now we’ll almost certainly be qualified for the next round.” Captain of the Polish team, Przemyslaw Michalczyk, emphasised the great atmosphere of the Spodek stadium: “This gym is built especially for volleyball matches and our fans have created a fantastic playing atmosphere.” “If we had won the first set we would have won this game”, expressed Levski Siconco Sofia head coach Lubomir Gerasimov disappointingly, “But what can you do? This is the sport, isn’t it? The Polish team is very strong and have the advantage of many years of experience.”
SCC BERLIN (GER) and Sisley TREVISO (ITA) finished their matches in Pool C successful, both teams booking a 3:1-win. The Berliners managed to scrape the fourth set 30-28 against Unicaja ALMERIA (ESP) with several set points for both teams, whilst Sisley TREVISO kept the upper hand in the fourth set against Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK from Austria (25-23). Starting less nervous than the home team, who showed respect for their opponent’s big name, the Italians dominated in the first two sets although INNSBRUCK was able to keep the second set even up until 11-11. In the third set the Tyroleans went ahead until 9-9 when the teams swapped the lead several times. At 26-26 the Austrians gathered the final deciding two points which secured them the deserved third set win. Nevertheless, Sisley struck back in the fourth (23-23) when they reaped the final two points to decide the match in their favour (25-23). Following their sixth consecutive defeat Hypo Tirol no longer stands the chance of qualifying for the play-offs, whilst Sisley TREVISO currently takes the number one spot in Pool C ahead of TOURS VB (FRA) who has still to play their seventh match. “It was a pleasure to play against this team and I’m satisfied with tonight’s performance”, stated Hypo Tirol head coach Emanuele Zanini, “My team has improved throughout the competition. Having nothing to lose we offered a good show to the crowd.” The manager of Hypo Tirol, Hannes Kronthaler, also expressed his happiness but regretted to have failed to take the favourites into a decisive fifth set. Daniele Bagnoli, head coach of the guest team, announced: “We didn’t expect Hypo Tirol to play that strong. Our main aim was to ensure qualification, so we are happy with the final result with which we have fulfilled our duty.”
Last but not least the two top Pool D teams, Russian Dinamo MOSCOW and French PARIS Volley, battled it out with the latter, managing to overthrow the former in four sets following a 1:1-draw. Defeated by MOSCOW 3:0 in the first match PARIS Volley started very quick into the first set, taking a two-point lead (14-12). The French team were enthusiastic, performing strong jump serves and effective blocks. The guest team on the other hand tried to keep pace but couldn’t find the right solution against international players, such as Oliver Kieffer, Sébastien Frangolacci, as well as Jiri Novak, who were the key in booking the first set 25-22. PARIS Volley fought hard to win the second set but without success (22-25). Experiencing difficulties in receiving the opponent’s jump serves Dinamo became slightly nervous near the end of the third set so that PARIS profited to secure a 2:1-lead (25-23). Even though the guests were determined to catch up with Semen Poltavsky (18 points) and Taras Khtey (14 points) spiking successfully, PARIS didn’t hold back, using the Russian force to their advantage. At the end PARIS decided the final fourth set 27-25 in their favour. “We had to play perfect with no unnecessary mistakes in order to beat the Russians”, PARIS head coach Eric Ngapeth analysed after the match, “This was the case tonight, whereas MOSCOW committed some errors.” “We knew that PARIS is able to increase the pace and play more aggressive”, commented Dinamo’s Coach Boris Kolchin, “but we weren’t sufficiently concentrated on blocks and serves.”

Men’s Indesit European Champions League 2004/05, Pool rounds, 8^th leg
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 

Preliminary Pool A

Lokomotiv BELGOROD (RUS) - Iraklis THESSALONIKI (GRE)	3:1	21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18	100 mins
Noliko MAASEIK (BEL) - VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN (GER)	3:1	25-17, 17-25, 25-21, 25-20	107 mins

Preliminary Pool B

Panathinaikos ATHENS (GRE) - Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD (SCG)	3:1	25-22, 27-25, 15-25, 28-26	99 mins
JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A. (POL) - Levski Siconco SOFIA (BUL)	3:0	25-22, 25-16, 25-19	67 mins

Preliminary Pool C

SCC BERLIN (GER) - Unicaja ALMERIA (ESP)	3:1	25-21, 24-26, 25-20, 30-28	100 mins
Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (AUT) - Sisley TREVISO (ITA)	1:3	17-25, 21-25, 28-26, 23-25	106 mins

Preliminary Pool D

PARIS Volley (FRA) - Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS)

3:1

25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 27-25

102 mins

 

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