Champions League: Modena beat Warszawa to led Pool D, first win for Kuzbass

In the first match of the day, italians of Leo Shoes Modena earning a straight-set win in the CEV Champions League Volley over Verva Warszawa Orlen Paliwa at Tomabel Hall Roeselar. MVP of the match Nemanja Petric, with 15 points scored (including 4 aces, 2 blocks and 82% of success in attack). His teammate Daniele Lavia also contributed with 14 points.
Top scorer of Warszawa was Jakub Ziobrowski (substitute opposite) who scored a total of 10 points. Thus Modena stay undefeated in Pool D with 2 victories and 6 points.

Andrea Giani, head coach of Leo Shoes Modena: “We were good at putting pressure on WARSZAWA, they showed a great team effort during the third set, turning high the level of the match, but we did a great job not losing our confidence and taking the second victory in a row. We played half of Superlega’s season without a lot of important players, then we had a physiological decline. These two Champions League battles have shown us that hard work pays off. Now we must keep going down this road, tomorrow I want to see another great match.”

Daniele Lavia, player of Leo Shoes Modena: “We are now much more confident in our approach to the matches. We feel that our level is improving every day and we can play against everyone. It’s the first esperience for many of us in the Champions League and we are excited, but we also are aware that we want to win as much games as possible.”

Andrea Anastasi, head coach of Verva Warszawa Orlen Paliwa: “We played pretty well, but Leo Shoes Modena were better today, especially in the service. I tried changes and different players. The line-up from the third set was very close to beating rivals, but our receivers didn’t receive the ball after Daniele Lavia’s service. Our volleyball players need to rest and regenerate. We, the trainers, will be working on tactics for Kuzbass Kemerovo.”

Jakub Ziobrowski, player of Verva Warszawa Orlen Paliwa: “It was a difficult game for us. Leo Shoes Modena presents a very high level. We did our best, but something was missing. However, we must not give up. Tomorrow we can score three points and come back to Poland in good spirits.”

In the second match, the hosts of Knack Roeselare and Kuzbass Kemerovo fought for their first win. The hosts had their chances just in the opening set, but eventually the rivals grabbed a straight-set win.
It came to a close duel between Matthijs Verhanneman (14 points) and Ivan Zaytsev (13 points) to become the best scorer.

Matthijs Verhanneman, player of Knack Roeselare: “We were very close to win the first set. We raised our level in comparison with yestrerday. At some moments we played on Champions League level. A few mistakes at the end of set 1 and set 3 cost us a better result than 0-3. That was a big disappointment for us. But we also had some back luck a few times. We look forward to tomorrow. There is only one way to recover from this defeat and that is tob ring our best volleyball tomorrow.”

Steven Vanmedegael, head coach of Knack Roeselare: “My team suffers from a big disappointment because we didn’t win any set today. We played on a much higher level than yesterday. I saw a lot of good play by my players and I will keep this in mind for the next games.”