2017 FIVB VOLLEYBALL MEN’S CLUB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
- December 12 – 17
- Lodz, Opole, Krakow – Poland
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- Day 1
Day 2 of the FIVB Club WCH delivered. The day started with LUBE clinching an early semis spot in a tie break war against ZAKSA. Zenit Kazan and SKRA then made quick work of their opponents to also book their tickets to the semis. The day ended with SADA/Cruzeiro recovering from yesterday’s shock against LUBE to keep its semifinals hopes alive. Below, you’ll find information from all of the day’s action.
Performance of the Day: Yoandy Leal
After having a miserable performance in yesterday’s loss to LUBE that saw him get involved in a fight with teammate Sérgio Nogueira and get taken out of the game by coach Mendez in the end of the third set, Leal recovered with a monster game. In only three sets of play, he mustered up 20 points on 70% hitting (18/26) while also adding 2 blocks. This is the Leal we’ve come to known in Brazil’s Superliga, not what we saw yesterday.
Team of The Day: Sada/Cruzeiro
After getting completely outclassed by Lube in its debut, the current champions bounced back in a dominating win to keep its hopes for a third straight title alive. Although the game wasn’t a walk in the part, with all sets being tight wins, Cruzeiro‘s players actually showed up and were able to close the deal against Tehran VC, hitting 64% as a team. In a good note, it seems that yesterday’s fight between teammates Leal and Sérgio did not mess up the team’s chemistry.
FIVB Recaps
Lube Civitanova x ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Twice, Italian champions Cucine Lube Civitanova trailed Polish champions and hosts ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, but twice they came back to tie the intense and dramatic game, before rallying in the fifth for a sensational 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 18-16) win before another sellout crowd here for the 2017 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship.
It was the second five-setter in two days for ZAKSA, who had come back from two sets down on the opening day to beat Sarmaye Bank of Tehran. It leaves the Italian side undefeated in Pool A, within touching distance of a berth in the semifinals.
Bulgarian Tsvetan Sokolov with 26 points and Cuban-born Osmany Juantorena with 23 led the scoring for Lube, to counter the 25 of Belgian Sam Deroo for ZAKSA. Lube outplayed ZAKSA in blocking, serving and attacking, but also conceded as many as 35 unforced errors.
Here are the post match reactions:
Giampaolo Medei, Cucine Lube Civitanova Coach: “This was an amazing match for the fans, for the crowd. Maybe not so much for the coach, but, nevertheless, congratulations to Andrea and the team, it was a good match, and I expected this would be a good match. Yesterday we played a very high level volleyball, but you can’t play like this all the time. Today’s opponent had very good defence, with a lot of spikes in the same area, but my team didn’t give up. You can see the difference was 2 points, so you can see how difficult this tournament is. What’s important is that we won the match, maybe it wasn’t the best volleyball on our part, but it was an important match for us mentally. Tomorrow, we also play a very hard match, but our team can be sure that we can fight anybody even when we’re not playing at our best – we can fight for victory against anybody.”
Micah Christenson, Cucine Lube Civitanova acting Captain: “For sure, we are very happy about the result. We knew coming here that ZAKSA are very strong, and it was a very good match. There were many technical moments throughout the match, but we served pretty well. We can play better than today, but we are happy about the result, because ZAKSA are a very good team.”
Andrea Gardini, ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle Coach: “First I want to congratulate my friend for a good match, we played some high-level volleyball. Lube controlled the service, but I’m really happy comparing our play today to yesterday. It was much better. We played our style of volleyball, we used our middle blockers a lot, fast balls in the middle, which we didn’t see yesterday. It’s always difficult to play against such an opponent, they put a lot of pressure on us with players like Sokolov and Juantorena. Patience was the key.”
Benjamin Toniutti, ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle Captain: “First let me congratulate Civitanova. I think this was a very nice game, good match. We are proud of the way we played, we were much better than yesterday, but Civitanova is one of the best teams in the world. They put a lot of pressure on us through their service, which made a lot of difference.”
Zenit Kazan x Shanghai Golden Age
Zenit Kazan practically booked their ticket to the final round of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Krakow. After their 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-21) win against China’s Shanghai Golden Age, the chances that the Russian powerhouse does not take one of the top two spots in Pool B are only theoretical.
Maxim Mikhaylov was the best scorer of the match. He contributed 14 points to Zenit’s victory, including three of the team’s 13 kill blocks. Matthew Anderson added another ten points to the winning squad’s tally, while none of Shanghai’s players reached the double digits. Kazan out-blocked Shanghai 13 to 2 in the game.
Zenit had not played against Shanghai before, but their Club World Championship win-loss record against Asian teams now stands at 5-0.
Vladimir Alekno, coach of Zenit Kazan: “I am mad, because Shanghai played with different players from the ones they usually use. We could test almost every player today, so it is also a good thing. I am happy with the result.
Julien Lyneel, player of Shanghai Golden Age: “Playing against Zenit could not be easy. We did not play well. There was no chance to show some good volleyball. For sure we need to achieve our level now and keep focused on a victory tomorrow.
Facundo Conte, player of Shanghai Golden Age: “The most important thing for us was the experience we could gain playing against such a great team. I think it was OK, because my Chinese teammates had an opportunity to play against the best.”
Skra Belchatow x Bolívar
Skra Belchatow once again pleased the noisy home crowd at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, this time not only with a victory, but also with a spot among the best four teams at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship. The home favourites came back from a set behind to manage a 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-19) win against Argentina’s Personal Bolivar, a result which also secured a semifinal spot for the other unbeaten team in Pool B, Russia’s Zenit Kazan.
With 17 points each, Skra’s Srecko Lisinac and Bartosz Bednorz shared the top scoring honours. Their teammate Mariusz Wlazly added another 14. Theo Lopes scored 16 points for Personal Bolivar. Skra outplayed the opponents on all scoring counts, but most distinctively in blocking – 13 kills against five. There was a personal touch in this game with the two Bulgarian brothers Nikolay Penchev and Rozalin Penchev playing against each other at the highest possible level.
This is the second win for the Polish side over this opponent in the history of the Club World Championships. They also met in the 2010 semifinals, when Skra won in straight sets.
Here are the post match reactions:
Roberto Piazza, coach of Skra Belchatow: “It was a bad situation in the first set, when we made so many mistakes. But we found the solutions to fight with them. Mistakes are part of the game. We did not start our game in the right mood. Then we began playing better in serving and blocking, which was the best piece tonight. We were amazing in this! What is important – we pushed our rival far away from the net and this as decisive. We need to put our target a little bit higher now, before the final four in Krakow.”
Mariusz Wlazly, captain of Skra Belchatow: “It is a big day for us. We advanced to the semis; tomorrow we will play a tough game against Zenit. The first set did not go well for us. We missed our chances and Bolivar used it to win the set. We eliminated our technical errors in the next three sets and, thanks to this, we won the game.”
Karol Klos, player of Skra Belchatow: “The game was more equal than we expected, but we are happy with the result. We created a positive atmosphere on the court, which is really good. We have the power before the next matches.”
Javier Weber, coach of Personal Bolivar: “Our opponent played very well. My team played fantastically in the first set. They were a true team putting up a big fight. Then Skra started playing very well from the serving line and we could not find our attack. I had a feeling that we did not fight till the last point, which is a bit disappointing, but we played a lot better than yesterday.”
Leonardo Patti, captain of Personal Bolivar: “Skra were very good tonight. I am sad because we played the first set very well, but after that we lost our chances to get to the semifinals.”
Sada/Cruzeiro x Sramaye Bank Tehran
Defending champions Sada Cruzeiro of Contagem bounced back from their opening day shock to shut out Sramaye Bank Tehran 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-22) here on Wednesday and stay alive in the race for a ticket to the semifinals of the 2017 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship – though the Asian champions gave the South Americans a run for their money.
The result assures Italian champions Cucine Lube Civitanova of a ticket to the semifinals of the competition, with hosts ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Sada Cruzeiro to battle it out between them for the second qualifying spot from Pool A in Opole.
While Sada Cruzeiro coach Marcelo Mendez finished the game without a single substitution, Iranian coach Mostafa Karkhaneh brought on a few of his subs in the second set to try and turn the tide.
Yoandy Leal led the Brazilian side with his 20 points, with Evandro Guerra adding another 15 to get Sada Cruzeiro back on track.
Here are the post match reactions:
Marcelo Mendez, Sada Cruzeiro Coach: “I am very happy we won the match, and also very happy that we improved our play. We played well, our attack was very good, our centre was the best. I wish the best of luck for Sarmaye in your league.”
Filipe Ferraz, Sada Cruzeiro Captain: “I am so happy today, because we won. For us it was very important, as yesterday we played terribly, and I think the team played so well today, in service, passing, attack. We hope to continue tomorrow, which will be another final for us. I think that’s it. We’re prepared to confront all the teams. Thanks for the guys and the whole team. I hope for good luck for us and I wish good luck for everybody.”
Mostafa Karkhaneh, Sarmaye Bank Coach: “This was the best experience for us. I think this group was so much more difficult than the other group – we had Sada, the defending champions, but also teams like Lube and ZAKSA. But still, this is the best experience for us to continue working and playing next year. Sarmaye Bank will also represent Iran in the Asian Club Championship. But first let me congratulate Sada’s coach and the whole team – you deserved it, you were better in attack, and also our key player was injured before today’s match. He’s one of our best players, and we actually didn’t have any chance to go into semifinals and finals, but the experience we gained from this tournament will help us the next time we come here.”
Lukasz Zygadlo, Sarmaye Bank Polish setter: “Unfortunately we lost 3-0. Yesterday, it was a tough game for us. We were so close to winning. It was a very difficult night for all of us. Unfortunately, one our key players couldn’t play today. Congratulations for Sada. What can I say about our team – I feel that we don’t have enough contact, as an Asian team, with European or world teams. It was very difficult to play against players from teams like Sada. It was a very nice tournament to play in, and I hope this experience will be useful for the future.”
Standings
Pool A
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Cucine Lube Civitanova |
2 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3.000 | 189 | 163 | 1.160 |
| 2 |  ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle |
1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1.000 | 220 | 224 | 0.982 |
| 4 |  Sada Cruzeiro |
1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 130 | 140 | 0.929 |
| 3 |  Sarmayeh Bank Tehran |
0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0.333 | 175 | 187 | 0.936 |
Pool B
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Zenit Kazan |
2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 150 | 108 | 1.389 |
| 2 | PGE Skra Bełchatów |
2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6.000 | 173 | 138 | 1.254 |
| 3 |  Personal Bolívar |
0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.167 | 136 | 173 | 0.786 |
| 4 |  Shanghai Golden Age |
0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 | 110 | 150 | 0.733 |
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