AON HOTVOLLEYS VIENNA PRESENT SISLEY TREVISO WITH FIRST DEFEAT

Indesit European Champions' League 2005/06

Luxembourg, December 21, 2005. On the second day of the seventh leg in the Indesit European Champions’ League 2005/06 Pool D favourites Lokomotiv BELGOROD and BOT Skra BELCHATOW overthrew their opponents Levski Siconso SOFIA and Buducnost PODGORICKA Banka 3:0. Knack Randstad ROESELARE managed to beat last year’s runner-up Iraklis THESSALONIKI in the tiebreak, whilst the aon hotVolleys VIENNA surprised Pool C top team Sisley TREVISO with a 3:1 victory.
In the women’s event favourites RC CANNES and Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA stormed over their opponents Hotel Cantur LAS PALMAS, respectively Mladost ZAGREB in straight sets, whilst Uralochka NTMK EKATERINBURG beat Eczacibasi ISTANBUL 3:0 and TENERIFE Marichal showed no respect against Azerrail BAKU (3:0).

aon hotVolleys VIENNA (AUT) - Sisley TREVISO (ITA) 3:1 (19-25, 26-24, 27-25, 25-20)
Best scorers: Samuele Papi (Sisley TREVISO/19 points), Darko Antunovic and Alexej Sanko (aon hotVolleys VIENNA/both 18 points)

The aon hotVolleys won their third home match in this season's Indesit European Champions' League quite unexpectedly against Sisley TREVISO from Italy with 3-1. Even though the Italians played without their superstars Alessandro Fei, Gustavo Endres and Alberto Cisolla, the first victory of the Austrian vice-champion in this IECL season was quite a surprise.
In the beginning the Viennese were able to keep up with the top team from Italy, but suddenly lagged behind 16-22. The hotVolleys tried hard but were not able to catch up again.
In the second set, the home team put up a good fight, deservedly gaining a three point lead (12-9, 20-17). Nevertheless, the guests from Italy had the first set point at 23-24, but which they didn’t manage to secure. Thus, the Viennese finally gained the second set 26-24.
The third set was just as tight with the home team securing their fourth set point. At 18-18 in the fourth set the home squad gained a five point lead, eventually winning the set 25-20 and the match.
“Everybody knows how strong the team of Sisley TREVISO", said Darko Antunovic after the encounter, “I am happy that we finally won our first match in this season’s Champions’ League. We already had so much bad luck this year, but tonight luck was on our side! I hope this will give us a boost for the next encounters.”
Alexej Sanko was also very relieved: “Finally we played like a real team. Since the beginning of the season we have waited for this moment.”
The aon hotVolleys’ manager Peter Kleinmann could hardly describe his joy: "Tonight is like Christmas and Easter at a time! The Italians did take this match serious. They did not present us with any Christmas gifts. They wanted to win, otherwise they would not have protested against certain decisions made by the referees.”

Iraklis THESSALONIKI (GRE) vs. Knack Randstad ROESELARE (BEL) 2:3 (25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-17)
Best scorer: Ivan Contreras (Knack Randtsad ROESELARE/22 points)

The Belgians managed to beatlast year's runner-up Iraklis THESSALONIKI for the second time in a tiebreak. Iraklis made an impressive start in the first set with good servea and many successful attacks. As in the first game in Belgium the host team put on most pressure from the centre. Ivan Marqez and Sergiu Stancu from ROESELARE were in excellent shape though, helping the guest team to move ahead in the second set (11-13, 12-16, 14-18, 16-20) with the set ending 23-25. The Belgians took the lead in the third (6-10) but excellent serves by Marios Gkiourdas and unstoppable attacks by Matej Cernic presented Iraklis THESSALONIKI with seven points in a row (13-10), finally conquering the set 25-22. Mainly thanks to Ivan Contreras did ROESELARE seize the fourth set (9-15, 14-18, 20-25). The tiebreak was close. At 15-14 Iraklis gave away the chance to finish the game. Two attacks by Ivan Contreras led to 15-16 and finally Stancu closed the set for Knack Randstad ROESELARE with 15-17.

Buducnost PODGORICKA Banka (SCG) - BOT Skra BELCHATOW (POL) 0:3 (24-26, 21-25, 19-25)
Best scorers: Mariusz Wlazly (BOT Skra BELCHATOW/16 points), Michal Winiarsky (BOT Skra BELCHATOW/13 points)

BOT Skra BELCHATOW booked their fourth victory in the Indesit European Champions’ League beating Buducnost PODGORICKA Banka who are still without success in Pool D.
The champions of Serbia & Montenegro only performed well in the first set when they were leading. But due to a few errors on home side (24-24) the Polish finally took the 1:0 lead after captain Andrzej Stelmach and Robert Szczerbaniuk made the decisive points. With strong serving and blocking, BOT Skra BELCHATOW took an early lead in the second set (1-6), but the home team managed to come back to 21-22, but the Polish kept the advantage until the end of the set. Buducnost started off the third set with an 8-5 lead at the first technical time-out, but at 11-10 the guests regained control of the match, finishing it with routine.
“We expected the match to be more difficult”, stated BELCHATOW’s head coach Ireneusz Mazur, “The first set was tied up until the end, and if Buducnost had managed to win that, the result might have been different. We were lucky to take the lead, so that afterwards things were easier for us. We played better in attack and on block, and in the final moments of the sets we served with more power, which had an effect on the final victory.”
“BOT Skra BELCHATOW deserved to win this game because they showed all their qualities tonight, as in all other matches in the pool”, declared Igor Kolakovic, head coach of Buducnost PODGORICKA Banka, “We had a chance to go in lead thanks to some of the opponent’s mistakes, especially on block. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make it. We fell behind at the beginning of the second set. Although we tried to close the gap, the Poles replied with strong serves. That was decisive for the whole match.”

Levski Siconco SOFIA (BUL) - Lokomotiv BELGOROD (RUS) 0:3 (16-25, 26-28, 25-27)
Best scorers: Boyan Yordanov (Levski Siconco SOFIA/19 points), Todor Aleksiev (Levski Siconco SOFIA/16 points), Alexander Kosarev and Sergey Baranov (Lokomotiv BELGOROD/both 13 points)

Observed by 950 spectators the Russian champions had full advantage in the first set, dominating with strong serves (three aces) and a very good block (five points). The hosting team on the other hand played unstable and made a lot of mistakes.
The second set was more equal but at the end the visiting team proved the stronger nerves, winning 28-26 in 29 minutes.
In the third set Levski Siconco led 2-0 and 4-1 after good attacks by Boyan Yordanov and Todor Aleksiev. Finally, the result stood at 25-25, but the Russians’ better block and their more accurate play in the center by Alexander Abrosimov and Alejandro Spajic brought the final victory for Lokomotiv.
“We were stiff at the beginning of the match”, stated Levski’s captain Andrey Zhekov, “Maybe due to the high class of our opponents. We started playing a short while into the match but luck wasn’t on our side and we made too many mistakes at crucial moments.”
Sergey Tetyukhin, captain of Lokomotiv BELGOROD, stated: “This was a game of errors. I’m not at all satisfied with our play - neither the block, nor the defense was at the necessary level. Although we achieved our aim by winning 3:0, we could have done this in a much better way.”
SOFIA’s head coach Martin Stoev commented: “We didn’t play well at the end of the second and the third set, when we had a chance to win. We didn’t manage to put our opponent under pressure. I’m not content with our play. We have never played so bad. The good thing though is that we managed to play two very contestable sets facing such a strong team as Lokomotiv. We must keep the fourth place in the round, but this will be decided in the last matches.”
“In the second and the third set both teams showed attractive and beautiful volleyball”, commented BELGOROD’s head coach Sergey Lazurkin, “But in the first set we won too easily. We happened to be the better team. I’m glad with the result, because next week we have a very important match against Dinamo MOSCOW for the Russian Cup.”

Natalya Mammadova (Azerrail BAKU) trying to overcome TENERIFE Marichal's block

TENERIFE Marichal (ESP) - Azerrail BAKU (AZE) 3:0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-15)
Best scorers: Natalya Mammadova (Azerrail BAKU/19 points), Virginie de Carne (TENERIFE Marichal/17 points), Bojana Doganjic (TENERIFE Marichal/16 points)

TENERIFE Marichal defeated Azerrail BAKU in straight sets after an almost perfect match of the Spanish champion, showing their best version and pleasing their supporters for the first time after five consecutive defeats in Europe. The team from the Canary Islands was clearly superior, keeping their options open for reaching the quarterfinals.
Mauro Masacci trusted Susana Rodriguez instead of Miki Golubovic, who was ready to play in this match after she had been injured for the last two weeks and the Spanish center reacted by doing an outstanding job.
With Yelena Pavlova playing better this time, and Bojana Doganjic as well as Virginie de Carne performing outstandingly, TENERIFE found the way to stop their opponent’s top scorer Natalya Mammadova.
Mauro Masacci was very happy at the end of the meeting telling his players that they “deserved it because they have worked hard during this week”. However, the Italian coach stated that his team “still has a long way to reach the level we all wish we had.”

Eczacibasi ISTANBUL (TUR) - Uralochka NTMK EKATERINBURG (RUS) 0:3 (23-25, 22-25, 21-25)
Best scorers: Yumilka Ruiz (Uralochka EKATERINBURG/21 points), Neriman Özsoy (Eczacibasi ISTANBUL/13 points), Nancy Carrilo (Uralochka NTMK EKATERINBURG/12 points)

The home side Eczacibasi ISTANBUL put up a brave and determined fight against the strong Russians from Uralochka NTMK EKATERINBURG. However, their effort didn’t suffice for victory, so that Eczacibasi drops to a 3-4 win-lose ratio in Pool A, whilst Uralochka improve their win-lose record to 2-5.
Although the home side led by as many as five points during the third set, Uralochka came back with strong serving by Irina Tebenikhina and profited from unforced errors by Eczacibasi to finally win the match in straight sets.

RC CANNES (FRA) - Hotel Cantur LAS PALMAS (ESP) 3:0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-20)
Best scorers: Eva Yaneva (RC CANNES/13 points), Jelena Lozancic (RC CANNES/11 points), Olga Tocko (RC CANNES/10 points), Rosangela Correia (Hotel Cantur LAS PALMAS/10 points)

RC CANNES found better into the match than their opponents, who committed many mistakes on serve. In addition, Luminita Trombitas seemed surprised by the strong attacks coming from Victoria Ravva and Eva Yaneva. The second set went to the home team clearly with 25-11. In spite of the Spaniards’ will to win with Rosangela Correia and captain Luciana Marques scoring for LAS PALMAS, this wasn’t sufficient to hurt CANNES.
The 3’500 supporters of the Victories sports hall in Cannes were pleased to receive such a nice Christmas present.

Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) - Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA (ITA) 0:3 (19-25, 13-25, 23-25)
Best scorers: Simona Gioli (Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA/15 points), Senna Usic and Walewska Moreira de Oliveira (Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA/both 14 points), Natalija Kvasnytsya (Mladost ZAGREB/13 points)

In the seventh leg of the Indesit European Champions’ League Mladost ZAGREB lost to Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA, current Pool B leader and winner of the CEV Cup 2004/05. Herewith, the Italian squad booked their sixth victory in seven matches played.
Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA showed the more aggressive game during the first set. Continuing strong, the guests seized a 12-point lead in the second set (9-21), also profiting from many mistakes by ZAGREB. Vlatka Zahora replaced Ilijana Dugandžić in order to improve the Croatian block, but until the end of the set, Mladost ZAGREB didn't offer much resistance.
The home squad woke up in the third, leading 5-1 and 11-5 thanks effective blocks and strong serves (19-16). But at 19-19 the Italians collected their last effort in order to take the match home without conceding a set.
Croatian spiker Senna Usic (14 points), who plays for the Italian champion PERUGIA, was very happy with this victory: “Now we have realised one part of our plan for this season. Our goal is to win the Italian Championship and the Indesit European Champions’ League. We are under a certain pressure, but so far we are doing very well. Recently, we beat Foppapedretti BERGAMO. The atmosphere in our squad is great. We train hard, but we are very tired because we travel a lot. Hence, it is very important to give our maximum each time we play.”
Captain of host team Zrinka Petrović (11 points) said that her squad is currently in a tense situation, as they have lost all matches so far in addition to an important match in the Croatian Cup competition: “It was hard to improve our form in just a few days, especially when an excellent squad stands on the other side. We made too many unforced mistakes today and we didn’t take our chance of winning the third set. I would like to congratulate PERUGIA and wish them all the best in the future Indesit European Champions’ League competition.”

Photo Gallery

Men’s Indesit European Champions League 2005/06
Results, League Round, 7^th leg

Preliminary Pool A

Iraklis THESSALONIKI (GRE) - Knack Randstad ROESELARE (BEL)

2:3

25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-17

Preliminary Pool C

aon hotVolleys VIENNA (AUT) - Sisley TREVISO (ITA)

3:1

19-25, 26-24, 27-25, 25-20

Preliminary Pool D

Buducnost PODGORICKA Banka (SCG) - BOT Skra BELCHATOW (POL)	0:3	24-26, 21-25, 19-25
Levski Siconco SOFIA (BUL) - Lokomotiv BELGOROD (RUS)	0:3	16-25, 26-28, 25-27

Women’s Indesit European Champions League 2005/06
Results, League Round, 7^th leg

Preliminary Pool A

RC CANNES (FRA) - Hotel Cantur LAS PALMAS (ESP)	3:0	25-17, 25-11, 25-20
Eczacibasi ISTANBUL (TUR) - Uralochka NTMK EKATERINBURG (RUS)	0:3	23-25, 22-25, 21-25

Preliminary Pool B

TENERIFE Marichal (ESP) - Azerrail BAKU (AZE)	3:0	25-19, 25-14, 25-15
Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) - Pallavolo Sirio PERUGIA (ITA)	0:3	19-25, 13-25, 23-25

Confédération Européenne de Volleyball

AON HOTVOLLEYS VIENNA PRESENT SISLEY TREVISO WITH FIRST DEFEAT

Indesit European Champions' League 2005/06

Preliminary Pool A

Preliminary Pool A