INDESIT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
In Macerata, Bled ends the Italian adventure
Trentino wins in Belgium and is the only Italian left
KNACK RANDSTAD ROESELARE – TRENTINO BETCLIC 1-3 (26-28, 25-18, 21-25, 14-25) –
KNACK RANDSTAD ROESELARE: Contreras 12, Depestele 3, Radovic 3, Vlam 12, Verhelst 3, Callebert (L), Borremans, Verhanneman 12, Tuerlinckx 5, Alves Dos Santos 13, Dewyspelaere, Hoho 1.
TRENTINO BETCLIC: Zygadlo 1, Herpe 4, Kaziyski 18, Sokolov 5, Vieira De Oliveira 1, Bari (L), Sala 1, Garcia Pires Ribeiro 6, Birarelli 8, Vissotto Neves 9, Corsini 1, Juantorena Portuondo 21. Coach. Stoytchev Radostin.
Trentino is getting closer to the Final Four of Lodz thanks to a 3-1 win over Roeselare in Belgium. This result, which is the same of the first leg in Italy, sends Trento into the playoffs 6. In this next round, Stoytchev’s boys will fight it out with the Polish team of Rzeszow, led by Ljubomir Travica. The first leg will take place on the second of March and the return leg on the 11th.
“Mission accomplished, we are still alive in Europe, which is what we wanted as we travelled to Belgium – said coach Radostin Sotytchev – We are obviously satisfied but the route to the Final Four is still a long way out and complicated. Tonight, we made a little step forward with a difficult victory. The first two sets and a half have been really complicated: Roeselare received, attacked and digged very well in the first part of the game and we objectively struggled to take control at the net. The first set won really gave us confidence, when we took that set, we realised we were very close to the qualification and in the third set, we found the resources to get that mathematic qualification. I want to congratulate the players for the composure and determination with which they played during the whole game. Now, we’ll start thinking on the Rzeszow game, the last obstacle between us and the Final Four”.
Trentino will be rested this weekend.
LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA – ACH VOLLEY BLED 2-3 (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 19-25, 12-15) –
LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA: Cisolla 14, Paparoni 8, Corsano (L), Raymaekers 10, Omrcen 27, Bartoletti, Vermiglio 2, Monopoli, Podrascanin 13, Martino 1, Swiderski 1. DNP Smerilli. Coach. De Giorgi Ferdinando.
ACH VOLLEY BLED: Petkovic 5, Gato Moya 2, Lewis (L), Vidic, Flajs 3, Pajenk 10, Sket 13, Vincic, Venno 13, Kamnik 16, Jakopin 8. DNP Pokersnik.
Bled made it a double tie-break win in Macerata and earned a historical qualification to the Playoff 6, the first ever for a Slovenian team. It’s been a very disappointing campaign for Macerata who had only missed out on the Final Four once out of the last three participations in the Champions League.
“We made the same mistakes as in Ljubljana – said coach Ferdinando De Giorgi – We let them play, while we were too nervous. Following our reaction that earned us a 2-1 lead, the team started poorly the fourth set. In such situation, you should do the contrary and hit the ball without restrain. We did not handle things as we should have, nothing more to say. Whoever does this job has to learn to live with certain defeats, ones that hurt badly. Let’s work hard and focus on the league now”.
