CEV Champions League
Semifinal 1: Zenit Kazan def. Berlin Recycling Volleys 25-21, 25-22, 25-13
Semifinal 2: Sir Sicoma Colussi Perugia def. Cucine Lube Civitanova 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-9
Bronze medal match: Cucine Lube Civitanova def. BR Volleys 29-27, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21
Gold medal match: Zenit Kazan vs. Sir Sicoma Colussi Perugia
Sunday, April 30, 1 p.m. ET
Cucine Lube Civitanova picked up its second straight bronze medal in men’s CEV Champions League play with a 3-1 win over Berlin Recycling Volleys on Sunday morning in Rome. Lube won the match 29-27, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21 with help from 11 service aces.
Cucine Lube Civitanova, of the Italian Serie A, was led by Tsvetan Sokolov’s 23 points, including 20 kills, while Osmany Juantorena Portuonod chipped in 21 points, including five aces. United States setter Micah Christenson managed three points, including an ace.
For BR Volleys, of the German Bundesliga, Paul Carroll managed 25 points, including 24 kills, while Aleksander Okolic and Robert Kromm added nine apiece. Okolic put up four of the team’s 11 blocks.
Bronze may not be what they came for, but it is what they take away… see you later on the podium @VolleyLube #CLF4Rome pic.twitter.com/4mM1fp8Cbx
— CEV Champions League (@CEVolleyballCL) April 30, 2017
“It was important to play immediately after the match that we lost yesterday – to clean our minds and just reset everything,” Lube’s Klemen Cebulj said. “We take a lot of positives from this match, which is important, because we will be playing our next match in the championship series of the national league on Thursday and we want to take this good feeling into our next game.”
After a back and forth battle throughout Set 1, Lube finally managed the 29-27 win. BR Volleys answered with a 25-22 win to level the match.
BR Volleys’ struggles on serve receive and dominance by Sokolov and Juantorena gave Lube the 25-21 Set 3 win.
BR Volleys played from behind in Set 4, but managed to knot the score at nine. Trailing 20-18 late in the set, Cucine Lube Civitanova played into a 21-21 tie and got an ace from Juantorena to go ahead 24-21. Another perfect serve clinched the bronze medal.
Leave a Reply