‘MARCH MADNESS’ STARTS WITH CEV CUP FINALS

CEV Cup

Luxembourg, March 3, 2005. The month of March is one of the busiest periods in European Volleyball, as the Final Four events of six different European Cups are scheduled. The Final Four of the CEV Cup will kick off the ‘March Madness’ with the men’s event taking place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Italian Perugia hosting the women’s final event.

Four deserving teams will fight for the men’s CEV title on the beautiful Spanish isle of Mallorca this weekend. In the first semifinal, French TOURCOING Lille Métropole will face Italian Lube MACERATA. The Italian team, former winner of the Indesit European Champions’ League, is the favourite in this encounter lining-up top Italian athletes, such as Lorenzo Bernardi, Marco Bracci, Luigi Mastrangelo and libero Mirko Corsano, as well as Cuban Angel Dennis and Serbs Ivan Miljkovic and Andrea Geric.
Home team Son Amar Palma MALLORCA have surely surprised many in this year’s CEV Cup by reaching the Final Four. The Spanish team are a well balanced squad, including Spanish stars such as Miguel Falasca and José Luis Molto, as well as French national team players Stephane Antigua and Sebastian Ruette. The semifinal opponent of Son Amar Palma MALLORCA, Italian Somec PADOVA, won’t be an easy contender for the Spaniards. Marco Meoni, Polish Arkadiusz Golas and their team, however, will have to overcome MALLORCA as well as their home support.
The women’s CEV Cup Final Four will be played in Perugia, Italy. As in the men’s event, Italy are represented with two teams but there will be no chance of an all-Italian final as Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA already confronts Vini Monte Schiavo JESI in the first semifinal. In the other semifinal, Russian Balakovskaia AES BALAKOVO will face Slovakian OMS SH SENICA. Whoever wins the ‘battle of the outsiders’ will have a difficult time in the final given that the Italian teams are the clear favourites.
More action in the European Cup Competitions will follow with the men’s Austrian Airlines Top Teams Cup final taking place in Piraeus, Greece from 11-12 March and the women’s Top Teams Cup Final Four being scheduled for 12-13 March in Turin, Italy.
The strongest European club competition, the Indesit European Champions’ League 2004/05, will be the cherry on the cake, concluding the six month period of European club competitions. Whilst the women will battle it out in Tenerife, Spain from 19-20 March, the men’s Indesit European Champions’ League Final Four will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece from 26-27 March.

 

Men’s CEV Cup 2004/2005

Final Four in Palma de Mallorca (ESP)
Match Schedule (local time)
 

Saturday, 5 March 2005	17.30	Somec PADOVA (ITA) - Son Amar Palma MALLORCA (ESP)
	19.30	Tourcoing Lille Métropole (FRA) - Lube MACERATA (ITA)
Sunday, 6 March 2005	12.00	Bronze medal match
	14.30	Final

 

Women’s CEV Cup 2004/2005

Final Four in Perugia (ITA)
Match Schedule (local time)
 

Saturday, 5 March 2005	15.45	Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA (ITA) - Vini Monte Schiavo JESI (ITA)
	18.45	Balakovskaia AES BALAKOVO (RUS) - OMS SH SENICA (SVK)
Sunday, 6 March 2005	17.30	Bronze medal match
	20.30	Final

More on the web at www.cev.lu

Enjoy & Be There:

 

08-10 March 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Playoffs Men, Away matches.
11-12 March 2005: Austrian Airlines Top Teams Cup, Final Four Men, Piraeus, Greece.
12-13 March 2005: Top Teams Cup, Final Four Women, Turin, Italy.
19-20 March 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Final Four Women, Tenerife, Spain.
26-27 March 2005: Indesit European Champions League, Final Four Men, Thessaloniki, Greece.
29 March-03 April 2005: Youth European Championships 2005, Boys Final Round, Riga, Latvia.
29 March-03 April 2005: Youth European Championships 2005, Girls Final Round, Tallinn, Estonia. 

23-24 July 2005: European League, Final Four, Kazan, Russia.
26-31 July 2005: FIVB Grand Prix Qualification, Baku, Azerbaijan.
02-11 September 2005: Men’s Senior European Championships 2005, Rome (ITA) and Belgrade (SCG).
16-25 September 2005: Women’s Senior European Championships 2005, Pula and Zagreb, Croatia.