European Cups
The European Cup competitions resume in this beginning of 2011. Treviso travels to the little town of Belgorod, which have won the first leg 3-0. The Italians need a win to get off the bottom position of its group E (tied with Fenerbahce).
Second of its group, Cuneo heads to Serbia to meet Radnicki Kragujevac, easily beaten the first time round.
Recently defeated in the Club World Championships, the Polish side of Belchatow will fight it out one more time against Trentino. However, Belchatow had won the first leg of this group and is also top of the group with a four-point advantage on the Italians.
Still on Wednesday, Macerata will play the Challenge Cup 8th of final first leg at home against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which qualified thanks to the Golden set against Tytan Czestochowa in the previous round.
Finally, Modena will host the Turkish side of Ankara on Thursday in the Cev Cup quarter final first leg.
CEV Champions League:
POOL A
Standings: Zenit Kazan 10, Generali Unterhaching 9, CSKA Sofia 4, AS Cannes 1
POOL B
Standings: Noliko Maaseik 9, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 8, CAI Teruel 7, Radnicki Kragujevac 0
POOL C
Standings: ACH Volley Bled 10, Jastrzebski Wegiel, Budvanska Rivijera Budva 5, Olympiacos Piraeus 4
POOL D
Standings: Pge Skra Belchatow 12, Trentino BetClic 8, VfB Friedrichshafen 4, Remat Zalau 0
POOL E
Standings: Lokomotiv Belgorod 10, Tours VB 6, Sisley Treviso, Fenerbahce Istanbul 4
POOL F
Standings: Dinamo Moscow 11, Panathinaikos Athens 5, Knack Randstad Roeselare, Hypo Tirol Innsbruck 4
Fixtures:
CEV Champions League
Round 5
Wednesday 5 January at 6pm
POOL B
Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (ITA) Differed on Sportitalia 2 at 9pm
(Ivanov-Dikmentepe)
Wednesday 5 January at 5pm (7pm CET)
POOL E
Lokomotiv Belgorod (RUS) – Sisley Treviso (ITA) Live on Sportitalia 2
(Hobor-Aliyev)
Wednesday 5 January at 8.30pm
POOL D
Trentino BetClic (ITA) – Pge Skra Belchatow (POL) Live on Sportitalia
(Vereecke-Seifried)
CEV Cup
Quarter final first leg
Thursday 6 January at 6pm
Casa Modena (ITA) – Ziraat Bankasi Ankara (TUR)
(Evgeniou-Krsek)
GM Capital Challenge Cup
8th of final first leg
Wednesday 5 January at 8.30pm
Lube Banca Marche Macerata (ITA) – Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR)
(Goncalves-Vedris)
Serie A2
Return games begin Thursday
The A2 league does not have any break. The first round of the return games begins on Wednesday with Perugia versus Pineto, which will line up its new signing Krasimir Stefanov. Important game at the bottom. On Thursday, the top two, Ravenna and Padova, will play home respectively against Club Italia and Reggio Emilia. Ukrainian spiker Oleg Kovalchuk could make his debut for Reggio. Santa Croce, with former Isernia middle blocker Giacomo Pambianchi, and Sora, both qualified in the Italian Cup Final Four, will take on Loreto and Genova respectively. Following its win in Genova, Segrate will try to keep moving up the table as it travels to Città di Castello, which stands just one point behind. Both defeated in the last round, Gela and Isernia meet in Sicily with important points at stake to remain in mid-table. Finally, Mantova, which has been getting better in recent games, entertains Milan.
Round 16
Wednesday 5 January at 8.30pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Pallavolo Pineto
(Gelati-Prandi)
Thursday 6 January at 6pm
Canadiens Mantova – CheBanca! Milano
(Prati-Perdisci)
NGM Mobile Santa Croce – Energy Resources Carilo Loreto
(Goitre-Balboni)
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Carige Genova
(Puletti-Piluso)
Eurogroup Gela – Geotec Isernia
(Guerzoni-Marchello)
Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna – Club Italia A. M. Roma
(Feriozzi-Zingaro)
Phyto Performance Padova – Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia
(Cardaci-Pozzato)
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello – Volley Segrate 1978
(Piana-Bartoloni)
League table
Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna 40, Phyto Performance Padova 39, NGM Mobile S.Croce 30, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 28, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 27, Carige Genova 27, Volley Segrate 1978 25, CheBanca! Milano 24, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 24, Eurogroup Gela 21, Geotec Isernia 19, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 18, Canadiens Mantova 14, Sir Safety Perugia 12, Pallavolo Pineto 8, Club Italia A.M. Roma 4.
