ZAKSA Rallies From Two Set Deficit For CEV Champions League Win

2017/2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League – Men

• Trentino Diatec at ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
• Pool E
• KĘDZIERZYN – KOŹLE

Maurice Torres scored 29 points as he led the host squad ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle to a five set victory over Trentino Diatec. The hosts rallied from a two set deficit to claim an important early two points in Pool E of the 2017/2018 CEV Volleyball Champions League. Set scores were 18-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-16, 15-12.

Rafal Buszek and Sam Deroo (two aces) scored 12 and 11 points respectively while Torres blocked three balls. ZAKSA rebounded from a tough finish at the 2017 FIVB Club World Championships to sit atop the current standings of Pool E.

This is what the #MatchoftheWeek is about! A #volleyball thriller that @ZAKSA_official and @trentinovolley offered us, but eventually the Polish team managed to win!#CLVolleyM pic.twitter.com/H2CsAqC0Do

— CEV Champions League (@CEVolleyballCL) December 20, 2017

Uros Kovacevic scored 17 points as he led four Trentino players into double digit points. Filippo Lanza (14), Luca Vettori (13), and Eder Carbonera (10) each scored in double figures but it was not enough to finish off the match after taking the first two sets on the road.

Mamy To! Wesołych Świąt! ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Koźle vs Diatec Trentino 3:2 (18:25, 24:26, 25:23, 25:15, 15:12) #goZAKSA #MatchOfTheWeek #CLVolleyM pic.twitter.com/tBWwh3S5Jo

— ZAKSA (@ZAKSA_official) December 20, 2017

Current Pool E Standings

ZAKSA (5 points)

Trentino Diatec (4 points)

Noliko Maaseik (2 points)

Arkas Izmir (1 point)

CEV Recap:

Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE (POL) vs. TRENTINO Diatec (ITA) 3-2 (18-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-16, 15-12)

•    Zaksa made some kind of early Christmas present to their supporters as they came back from two sets down to pull out a 3-2 victory in the ‘Match of the Week’ with TRENTINO.
•    TRENTINO set the pace for most of the opening set before Sam Deroo closed in within one point at 11-12 with a terrific ace. However, the trio consisting of Aidan Zingel, Eder Carbonera and Filippo Lanza helped the visitors cruise to a relatively comfortable 25-18 win.
•    The course of the game did not change in the second set with TRENTINO leading by four points at 10-6. Two blocks on Uros Kovacevic helped Zaksa reduce the gap (13-14) and the hosts eventually edged ahead at 17-16. However, after leading 20-18, Zaksa found themselves trailing 20-22; the score remained close through to 23-all before Renee Teppan came in for TRENTINO and with two consecutive aces sealed a 26-24 win for the visiting team.
•    The score was close up to 12-all in the third set before Deroo and Mateusz Bieniek powered Zaksa to a 16-14 lead. Luca Vettori scored some terrific spikes to contribute to a 20-17 Italian lead but the course of the game changed again with the help of Polish youngster Rafal Szymura. His serves surprised the Italian defence and Zaksa got back on track, with Rafal Buszek closing the set at 25-23 for the home side.
•    Zaksa were the dominant force in the fourth set (6-4, 9-6, 11-6, 16-11) and it was again Szymura who played a leading role in propelling the hosts to a landslide 25-16 win.
•    Szymura and eventual top scorer Maurice Torres joined forces to keep the score tight in the early stages of the tiebreak; Zaksa scored five straight points to claim an edge (9-4) and eventually emerged victorious from such a dramatic game (15-12).
• Angelo Lorenzetti, head coach of TRENTINO Diatec: “I would like to congratulate Andrea [Gardini] and his team, because they showed that it is worth fighting until the very last second of a match. We made too many mistakes and we ran out of energy towards the end of the match.”
• ‘Man of the Match’ Rafal Szymura: “We did not look at the result when we were losing; it is so much fun to win with such a team and I am glad that I played an important role after coming in as a substitute, especially since I knew that I had a difficult task ahead.”