Exciting final rush set to start before heading into the Playoffs 12

2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League

Luxembourg, January 11, 2010. The race for the Playoffs of the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League is getting more and more exciting and some spots will be probably allotted already this week with the matches of the fifth leg. The actions will resume on Tuesday night with three games and a couple of teams, Aluprof BIELSKO-BIALA and ZOK RIJEKA vying for their first victory this season. The French guys of TOURS VB will be also having a shot at a positive result against CSKA SOFIA to keep alive their chances to make it through the League Round coming from a still very open Pool B.
All matches of the fifth leg will be live-streamed at www.laola1.tv  
Click here for additional info, including a detailed TV schedule with all national broadcasters

Preview

Men

Being currently at the bottom of the standings in Pool B, France’s TOURS VB must simply score a couple of victories to qualify for the Playoffs. This will be the task first on Tuesday night against CSKA SOFIA of Bulgaria and the French would love to conclude this match with a 3:0 (as Unicaja ALMERIA did last week in Spain against SOFIA), since this result would improve their set ratio significantly. This past Saturday TOURS scored a 3:0 victory in the French national league and is therefore in a good shape and highly motivated. With Zenit KAZAN already having claimed the first place in the Pool, TOURS VB will try to compete for the remaining berth and maintain a chance to qualify for the Playoffs up to the last game slated for next week against Unicaja.

Women

The last defeat against FenerbahceAcibadem ISTANBUL did not totally shatter the chances of Aluprof BIELSKO-BIALA to qualify for the Playoffs. The clash scheduled for Tuesday night against Modranska PROSTEJOV will probably decide which of the two teams will continue its campaign in the 2009/2010 CEV Indesit Champions League. The Polish team lost all of its four matches in Pool C so far. However, in the match played in Prostejov a few weeks ago, Aluprof had an exceptional opportunity to win. Finally, the Czech champion got the crucial points of the game and won after a dramatic battle. The roster of the Czech team includes some very good players such as Kimberly Glass and Ogonna Nnamani who belong to the national team of the United States of America. Modranska PROSTEJOV plays fantastically in the national competition and has completed an immaculate set of wins until now. Moreover, the Czechs lost only three sets in all of their league matches. It proves that the players of the Aluprof should expect a very tough match. Despite this fact, the Poles are in a good mood. “It will be a crucial match for us and we are going to stop our streak of defeats. The target is clear – we want to reach the next round of this exclusive competition”, said Anna Barańska, the captain of Aluprof.

On Tuesday night ZOK RIJEKA of Croatia plays its last home match of the League Round against RC CANNES. After the defeat suffered this past Thursday with Universitet BELGOROD, the Croats didn't have too much time to rest. This game for the home team doesn't entail great importance, since ZOK RIJEKA is already out of contention for the Playoffs 12, but still there is a real desire to play a good game against such a strong opponent. “Hopefully we are going to put up a better performance than last time in France. RC CANNES is a very good and experienced team and we need to give our best and show to our audience that we can play some good volleyball also in the CICL as we do in the Croatian and MEVZA leagues” says Ivana Miloš.