CEV Champions League 2023 – Semi Finals, Home Matches
Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle – Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-19, 25-22) – Kaczmarek 14, Janusz 2, Kluth 0, Bednorz 23, Sliwka 7, Smith 11, Pashitskii 7, Shoji (L), N.E. Stepien, Wiltenburg, Staszewski, Zalinski, Banach, Huber. All. Sammelvuo. Sir Sicoma Monini PERUGIA: Giannelli 4, Herrera Jaime 14, Rychlicki 1, Leon 17, Piccinelli (L), Solè 1, Russo 4, Colaci (L), Flavio 8, Semeniuk 3, Plotnytskyi 8, Ropret 0. N.E. Cardenas Morales, Mengozzi. All. Anastasi. ARBITRI: Ivanov, Luts. NOTE – durata set: 27′, 30′, 27′, 28′; tot: 112′.
A night to forget for Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia who surrendered 3-1 in the semi-final first leg of the CEV Champions League 2023 against the two-time European Champions of Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle. Thursday 6 April the return to the PalaBarton where, pushed by their audience, Leon and his companions will have to win “from three” and also win the Golden Set to reach the Finals in Turin.
The reigning champions of Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle, led by coach Sammelvuo, prevail in four sets with merit in front of the Polish wall and put a mortgage on the passage of the round. Return match next Thursday at the PalaBarton where Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia, this time in front of their own public, will have to try to overturn the issue and then play everything in the Golden Set. It will clearly take another Perugia than the one seen tonight. the Block Devils, with the exception of the second set, struggled to pick up the pace, making many mistakes in the serve and finding no solutions to the opponent’s offensive game. The numbers of the match confirm this with Zaksa slightly better in all fundamentals with the serve-reception balance which was the biggest difference between the two teams. Bednorz and Kaczmarek (37 points in two) prove to be the most men in attack for Sammelvuo’s team, in the black and white ranks Leon (17 points), Herrera (14) and Flavio (10) players in double figures. The Champions League formula gives Anastasi and his boys the chance of the return match: with the blank wall pushing hard behind them and evidently with a different performance than tonight’s anything is still possible.
On the other side of the bracket, Jastrzebski Wegiel (who eliminated VfB Friedrichshafen in the quarter-finals with a double 3-0) beat Halkbank Ankara 3-1 in Turkey, a team that ousted Cucine Lube Civitanova in the Golden Set.
CEV Champions League 2023 – Semi Finals, Away Matches
Giovedì 6 aprile 2023, ore 20.30
Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia – Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle (POL)
Mercoledì 5 aprile 2023, ore 20.30
Jastrzebski Wegiel (POL) – Halkbank Ankara (TUR)
