UPCN and Ciudad to clash for Argentinean title

The two teams will play in a repeat of last season’s final

Published 05:00, 01 Apr 2022

UPCN

UPCN players celebrate their second victory against Policial

For a second consecutive season, UPCN San Juan and Ciudad Voley will meet in the final of the Argentinean Men’s Volleyball League. The two clubs emerged victoriously from their semifinal duels on Thursday and will play each other in the best-of-five deciding series.

After finishing top of the regular season, Ciudad will host the first two matches next Thursday (April 7) and Saturday (April 9). UPCN will host the next matches on April 14 and 16 and the series will return to Ciudad’s arena on April 21 if a fifth match is required.

The two teams met in the final series of last year’s Argentinean League, when UPCN came out on top, and also played in the gold medal match of this season’s Argentinean Supercup, when Ciudad were the winners.

Eight-time Argentinean champions UPCN will play in their 11th league final in 12 seasons – they only missed the event in 2018-2019, when they finished third. After ranking second in this year's regular season, the two-time FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship bronze medallists eliminated Policial Voley with a second victory in their best-of-three semifinal series, a 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21) triumph.

Outside hitter Manuel Armoa, who was part of the Dream Team of last year’s FIVB Volleyball U21 World Championship, led all scorers with 18 points (12 kills, five blocks, one ace). Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist opposite Federico Pereyra and outside hitter Brian Melgarejo added 16 each.

Ciudad, who played in their first final last season, will try and do better this year and end the season with gold medals around their necks. After grinding out a five-set victory against Once Unidos on Sunday, the team coached by Hernan Ferraro, the head coach of the country’s women’s national team, were dominant in the second encounter, securing a straight-set victory (25-21, 25-21, 25-22) to claim their berth in the final.

Chile national team outside hitter Vicente Parraguirre led Ciudad’s offence with a match-high 17 points (16 kills, one block), while Brazilian opposite Rodrigo ‘Alemao’ Telles added another 15 (14 kills, one block). Outside hitter Santiago Aulisi scored 13 (12 kills, one block) for Once Unidos.

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