Semeniuk leads ZAKSA in hard-fought win at Lube

Kamil Semeniuk’s great performance fuelled Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle to a five-set win at Cucine Lube Civitanova as the defending continental titleholders made it into the playoff rounds of the men’s CEV Champions League as one of the eight teams in the quarterfinal line-up fully completed on Wednesday.

At the beginning of the pool stage’s penultimate competition day, the Polish powerhouse had in no way guaranteed themselves a spot in the next round and were well conditioned to put up a must-win fight upon their visit to Italy, and although by the start of the match it was already clear that both teams would advance, they delivered an exciting five-set battle, after which ZAKSA celebrated with a hard-fought 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-10) victory. Lube topped the final Pool C standings on a 5-1 win-loss record, while ZAKSA finished second on 4-2 and 12 points as one of the three best ranked pool runners-up.

Polish international outside hitter Semeniuk spiked at a success rate of 74%, aced three times and scored a stuff block to pile up the match-high 24 points towards ZAKSA’s win. His teammate in both the club and the national team, middle blocker Norbert Huber, added another 19 points, including four kill blocks and 15 winning attacks at an 83% success rate. Huber’s Cuban counterpart Robertlandy Simon was the best scorer on Lube’s side, delivering four aces, four stuffs and 70% success in attack to tally a total of 22 points. Puerto Rican international Gabriel Garcia also impressed with four direct points from the serving line.

Italy’s Itas Trentino Trento were also in a must-win situation as they travelled to France for their last game in Pool E. With 24 points from Italian opposite Daniele Lavia, including an ace and five blocks, Trentino achieved a 3-1 (25-23, 25-9, 27-29, 25-14) victory over AS Cannes Dragons and booked their spot in the quarterfinals as pool runners-up, also on 4-2 and 12 points. Serbian middle Srecko Lisinac also produced five kill blocks and an ace, along with a 73% success rate in attack, to tally 14 points in the match, while Bulgarian outside Matey Kaziyski chipped in another 18 points (2 aces, 2 blocks, 58% in attack) towards the win.

The other Italian team in the pool, Sir Safety Conad Perugia, made sure they finished on an impeccable record of six wins and an 18-0 set ratio after Wednesday’s 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-17) home victory over Turkey’s Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul. American star Matthew Anderson played only in the first two sets of that game, but still registered a 67% success rate in offence to top the scorers chart on a total of 13 points, including two aces and a block.

Another qualifying pool runner-up emerged from Pool D. Before their double-header on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, both the Russian hosts of Zenit Saint Petersburg and the German visitors of Berlin Recycling Volleys had a good shot at winning the pool, but neither had secured a ticket to the quarterfinals. However, after their game on Wednesday, they were both already safe above the cut-off line. In a thrilling five-setter, the Germans mounted a furious comeback from two sets down to win by 3-2 (24-26, 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-12) and grant themselves the first place. Ahead of Thursday’s match, Berlin are on a 5-0 win-loss record, while Zenit are second on 3-2 and 10 points, enough for a berth in the playoffs.

American opposite Benjamin Patch was the best scorer of the match on 22 points, including three stuff blocks. French outside Timothée Carle scored three aces and two blocks towards a 20-point total. Russian star Egor Kliuka was Zenit’s most prolific player on 21 points, including three blocks and an ace.

Poland’s Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj and Russia’s Dinamo Moscow picked up quarterfinal spots as the undefeated winners of Pools A and B, respectively. On Wednesday, Jastrzebski Wegiel mastered a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23) home win over Germany’s VfB Friedrichshafen, with Czech international Jan Hadrava leading the team’s scorers on 16 points (1 ace, 4 stuffs, 65% in attack), while Dinamo crushed their visitors from Ziraat Bankasi Ankara in straight sets, 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-21), and left their Turkish opponent just below the qualification line, as the fourth best-ranked runner-up. Bulgarian opposite Tsvetan Sokolov was the best scorer of the match on 14 points (3 aces, 3 stuffs, 8 spikes).

Overall, even before the remaining three pool-stage matches postponed to Thursday, all eight clubs to progress in the Champions League have become known. Three Italian teams – Sir, Lube and Trentino, two Polish teams – Jastrzebski and ZAKSA, two Russian teams – Dinamo and Zenit, and Germany’s Berlin will make up the four home-and-away quarterfinal fixtures, with the lots to be drawn on Friday and the matches to be played in March.