FAVOURITES REACH PLAY-OFF STAGE

Men's Indesit European Champions' League 2004/05

Luxembourg, January 13, 2005. Four more teams booked their seat in the Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League after the ninth leg of the league round of the world’s strongest club competition. Among them three favourites for the title: defending champion Lokomotiv BELGOROD from Russia, Italian Copra Volley PIACENZA and Greek Iraklis THESSALONIKI. Furthermore JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A. also qualified for the next round. 

Defending champion Lokomotiv BELGOROD had an easy task during the ninth leg of the Indesit European Champions’ League. The Russian Rockets had to defeat Polish Polska Energia SOSNOWIEC to reach the next stage. It was absolutely no problem for the two times champion to win this Pool A clash. In front of 3’000 spectators, Lokomotiv BELGOROD won the match in three straight sets. Argentine spiker Alejandro Spajic was the best scorer with 15 points.
Greek Iraklis THESSALONIKI also claimed a place in the play-off round from Pool A, as the excellent performing Greek team defeated Belgian Noliko MAASEIK in front of approximately 2’500 Greek fans. Marios Gkiourdas, former captain of the Greek national team, was the best scorer with 15 points, closely followed by his teammates Clayton Stanley and Tontor Baev, who both added 14 points to the scoreboard. For Noliko MAASEIK nobody reached double figures. “We can celebrate the qualification for the next round now”, Iraklis THESSALONIKI coach Alekos Leonis said. “Our performance was excellent, now having reached our first goal. We even want to go further as we want to organize the Final Four in Thessaloniki.” “It was simply too tough for us here”, stated Noliko MAASEIK coach Anders Kristiansson, who recently rejected an offer to become coach of the national team of the Netherlands. “We tried everything, but weren't even able to win a set.”
Italian Copra Volley PIACENZA struggled during the first part of the Indesit European Champions’ League, having some unexpected defeats. The Italian favourite bounced back and thanks to a 3:0 victory at Belgian Knack ROESELARE, Copra Volley PIACENZA is sure of continuing in the world’s strongest club competition. “My team did what it had to do”, Copra Volley PIACENZA coach Ljubomir Travica said. “We knew a victory would bring us to the next round and I am glad we won this match.”
Polish JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A. is one of the surprises in the play-off round. The Polish team secured a spot by winning against Serbian Vojvodina NOVI SAD 3:1. Reaching the next stage is a great achievement for the Polish team. “It is a real important step for us that we will play in the next round”, JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A. captain Przemyslav Michalczyk said. “We started the Indesit European Champions’ League very unluckily, but qualification for the next round is a big success”, JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A coach Igor Prielozny stated.
Ten teams are now sure of playing in the twelve teams’ play-off round with only one leg round to go. Austrian Aon hotVolleys VIENNA, Greek Panathinaikos ATHENS, Italian Sisley TREVISO, French TOURS VB, Dinamo MOSCOW from Russia and French PARIS Volley already claimed a spot last week. After this week’s action, Lokomotiv BELGOROD, JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A., Iraklis THESSALONIKI and Copra Volley PIACENZA also go through to the next round. The last two vacancies will be filled next Wednesday, when all matches in the tenth and last leg are scheduled. In Pool A, Noliko MAASEIK has the best papers over German VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, whilst in Pool C, German SCC BERLIN has to hope that Spanish Unicaja ALMERIA will lose to Sisley TREVISO.

To view the women's week 8 review please click here.

 

Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League 2004/2005
Results ninth week 

Preliminary Pool A

Iraklis THESSALONIKI (GRE) - Noliko MAASEIK (BEL)	3 :0	25-17, 25-16, 25-21
Polska Energia SOSNOWIEC (POL) - Lokomotiv BELGOROD (RUS)	0 :3	18-25, 30-32, 15-25

Preliminary Pool B

Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD (SCG) - JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A. (POL)	1 :3	22-25, 25-20, 13-25, 21-25
Aon hotVolleys VIENNA (AUT) - Panathinaikos ATHENS (GRE)	2 :3	17-25, 21-25, 29-27, 25-19, 13-15

Preliminary Pool C

TOURS VB (FRA) - SCC BERLIN (GER)	3 :0	25-16, 25-17, 25-16
Unicaja ALMERIA (ESP) - Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (AUT)	3 :1	19-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-20

 
Preliminary Pool D

Lokomotiv KHARKIV (UKR) - PARIS Volley (FRA)	3 :1	25-18, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17
Knack ROESELARE (BEL) - Copra Volley PIACENZA (ITA)	0 :3	17-25, 22-25, 14-25

Pool Ranking after 9th week 

Pool A:
1. Iraklis THESSALONIKI 7-13 (19-6), 2. Lokomotiv BELGOROD 8-13 (19-12),
3. VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN 7-11 (13-12), 4. Noliko MAASEIK 7-10 (11-15),
5. Polska Energia SOSNOWIEC 7-7 (4-21)

Pool B:
1. Panathinaikos ATHENS 8-14 (21-13), 2. Aon hotVolleys VIENNA 7-12 (17-14),
3. JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A. 7-11 (14-11), 4. Levski Siconco SOFIA 7-9 (9-17),
5. Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD 7-8 (12-18)

Pool C:
1. TOURS VB 7-13 (19-6), 2. Sisley TREVISO 7-12 (17-9), 3. SCC BERLIN 8-12 (14-19),
4. Unicaja ALMERIA 7-10 (12-13), 5. Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK 7-7 (6-21)

Pool D:
1. Dinamo MOSCOW 7-13 (19-6), 2. PARIS Volley (FRA) 7-12 (16-11),
3. Copra Volley PIACENZA 8-11 (15-15), 4. Knack ROESELARE 7-9 (10-18),
5. Lokomotiv KHARKIV 7-9 (7-17)

Match schedule (all times are local)
Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League 

Wednesday 19 January 2005

Pool A	20.15	VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN (GER) - Iraklis THESSALONIKI (GRE)
	20.30	Noliko MAASEIK (BEL) - Polska Energia SOSNOWIEC (POL)
Pool B	17.30	Levski Siconco SOFIA (BUL) - Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD (SCG)
	20.00	JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel S.S.A. (POL) - Aon hotVolleys VIENNA (AUT)
Pool C	20.15	Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (AUT) - TOURS VB (FRA)
	20.30	Sisley TREVISO (ITA) - Unicaja ALMERIA (ESP)
Pool D	19.00	Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) - Lokomotiv KHARKIV (UKR)
	20.30	PARIS Volley (FRA) - Knack ROESELARE (BEL)

More on the web at www.cev.lu

Enjoy & Be There:
18-20 January 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Women 9th leg, Men 10th leg.
20 January 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Men Drawing of Lots, Luxembourg.
25 January 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Women 10th leg.
26 January 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Women Drawing of Lots, Luxembourg.
29 January 2005: Youth European Championships 2005, Drawing of Lots, Riga, Latvia.
08-10 February 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Playoffs Women & Men, Home matches.
15-17 February 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Playoffs Women & Men, Away matches.
01-03 March 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Playoffs Men, Home matches.
08-10 March 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Playoffs Men, Home matches.