Virtually every club tournament on the planet is quickly approaching its decisive moment, with national leagues in Argentina, Brazil and Bulgaria all having critical matches going on this week. It’s no different with the CEV Champions League, which will have the start of their semifinal series for the men among the highlights of the next few days.
What's On: Your guide to this week's best LIVE matches
Here’s what to look out for from March 28-April 3 in volleyball and beach volleyball
Published 05:01, 28 Mar 2023
In Italy, there’s also a lot to look out for with the SuperLega Credem Banca reaching the fourth leg of its quarterfinal playoffs and potentially determining its semifinalists, while the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile is set to find out which will be the last two teams to complete the playoff field.
In beach volleyball, Australia is the destination of the Beach Pro Tour this week, with Coolangatta Beach hosting the second Futures tournament of the season. The Beach Pro Tour will soon be headed to Itapema, but before that the city will host this week’s stop of the Brazilian Tour.
Here are the matches and events you won't want to miss this week:
Tuesday
Türkiye’s Sultanlar Ligi Women – Cukurova Belediyesi vs. THY – 17:00 local time (14:00 UTC)
The only match of the day in the Turkish Sultanlar Ligi Women will reunite two teams that are currently in top half of the standings, with sixth-placed Cukurova Belediyesi of Serbian world champion Katarina Lazović and Italian star Lucia Bosetti hosting fourth-placed Türk Hava Yollari (THY) of Turkish star setter Naz Aydemir and German heavy hitter Hanna Orthmann. Cukurova are currently on a three-match winning streak while THY will be looking to bounce back from a defeat to VakifBank Istanbul.
Wednesday
Beach Pro Tour Coolangatta Beach Futures - Australia
The second Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures event of the season will take place in Australia, with Coolangatta Beach hosting a five-day, double-gender tournament for a second-straight year. The event has 27 men’s and 28 women’s teams entered and among them are China’s Likejiang Ha/Jiaxin Wu and Australia’s Nicole Laird/Brittany Kendall.
CEV Men’s Champions League - Semifinals
The semifinals of the CEV Men’s Champions League begin, with two Polish teams and one from each of Italy and Türkiye involved. The first leg of both series will start on Tuesday, with Türkiye’s Halkbank Ankara hosting Poland’s Jastrzebski Wegiel at 19:00 local time (16:00 UTC) and Poland’s Grupa Azoty ‘Zaksa’ welcoming Italy’s Sir Safety Susa Perugia at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC).
Thursday
Bulgarian Women’s League – Slaviya Sofia vs. Maritza Plovdiv – 18:30 local time (15:30 UTC)
The winners of the last five editions of the Bulgarian Women’s League, Maritza Plovdiv could secure their presence in the final of their country’s national tournament as they face Slaviya Sofia in the second leg of their semifinal series. The best team in the regular season, Maritza won the first duel of their best-of-three series against Slaviya, who were fourth, 3-1 on Sunday at home and will now try to triumph on the road too.
Friday
Brazilian Tour - Itapema
The next city to host a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event next month, Itapema will welcome beach volleyball one week before the event with the second stop of the Brazilian National Tour taking place in the city. Some of the top international teams from Brazil, such as Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa/Ana Patricia Ramos and Andre Loyola/George Wanderley, will take part in the tournament.
Brazilian Women’s Superliga – 21:00 local time (00:00 UTC, Saturday)
The 22nd and final round of the Brazilian Women’s Superliga regular season will take place, with all six matches starting at the same time. While the eight teams that will appear in the playoffs are already determined, there will be some interesting battles for a higher-seeding heading in the postseason, with Osasco São Cristovão Saúde and Gerdau Minas fighting to finish second, SESC RJ Flamengo trying to move up to third and EC Pinheiros making a final push for sixth place.
Saturday
Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile – Cuneo Granda S. Bernardo vs. E-Work Busto Arsizio – 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC)
Unet-E Work Busto Arsizio could become the seventh team to book a spot in the playoffs of the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile. Currently in seventh place with 34 points (11 wins), the team of Olympic medallists Rosamaria Montibeller and Carli Lloyd will go on the road against Cuneo Granda S. Bernardo and any victory will be enough to get them out of reach for ninth-placed Il Bisonte Firenze.
🤩 She's back 🤩 #volley #pallavolo #Rosamaria #uyba pic.twitter.com/WFO0C4pWiO
— E-work Busto Arsizio (@UYBAvolley) March 27, 2023
Sunday
SuperLega Credem Banca – Quarterfinals Leg Four
Three matches of the fourth leg of the SuperLega Credem Banca will be played on Sunday, with three teams being capable of securing their spots in the semifinals of the Italian League. Sir Safety Susa Perugia, Itas Trentino and Valsa Group Modena, who lead their series against Allianz Milano, Vero Volley Monza and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piaacenza 2-1, will all be on the road, but need only a positive result to secure their third win and bring the best-of-five series to an end.
Game 3 winner is @trentinovolley!
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) March 26, 2023
Alessandro Michieletto & team are only 1 win away 🆚 @VeroVolley from advancing to the semifinal round of the Italian league playoffs. Best of 5 series is at 2-1.
📺 Full match replay on VBTV.
🏐 #volleyball #Pallavolo pic.twitter.com/hNVxhpOfc7
Monday
Argentinean Men’s League – Policial Voley vs. Ciudad Voley – 21:00 local time (00:00 UTC, Tuesday)
The second semifinal of the Argentinean Men’s League begins with the first match of the best-of-three series between Policial Voley, who were fourth in the regular season, and first-placed Ciudad Voley. Policial eliminated Paracao in the quarterfinals while Ciudad overcame Once Unidos. UPCN Voley and Monteros clash on the other series.