Why to vote for each of the eight nominees for the All-Star libero position in the #CLVolleyM

The CEV Champions League Men has reached its business end, with the Final Four ready to deliver more drama in Łódź one month’s time. But before the last three matches will decide the new champions, we are looking back on how they got here and how their best players performed this season. 

As we gear up for the deciding matches, the attention will certainly be on these matches, but until their throw-offs, fans are invited to choose their favourites, which will then be selected to the 2024/25 CEV Champions League Volleyball All-Star Teams.

The voting has been in full fledge for a few days, but if you still haven't picked your favourites, now is the time to sit back, see what the eight candidates for each position did so far and choose accordingly. The liberos in the men’s competition are next, so let’s see who are the eight nominees.

The Final Four participants have one player each between the nominees for the All-Star team in the libero position, with four other sides, which made the quarter-finals also sending one player in the eight-player shortlist.

A stalwart in the Turkish league, where he won the “Best Libero” award in the last three seasons, Volkan Döne has been superb for Halkbank Ankara this season in the European premium competition. Döne had 186 receptions this season and a 29% perfect reception rating.

Veteran Massimo Colaci, who is now 40 years old, is also one of the best liberos this season, featuring prominently in defence for Italian side Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia. Colaci had 131 receptions this season, being an integrant part of the Italian side’s success, looking for his maiden title in the CEV Champions League Men.

Jastrzębski Węgiel have Jakub Popiwczak, one of the most consistent liberos in the previous seasons in the CEV Champions League Men, who has been excellent this season too. In 30 sets this season, Popiwczak had 133 receptions and a 27% perfect receptions rating.

The other Polish side featuring in the Final Four, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, also have a player shortlisted, Luke Perry. The 29-year-old Australian libero, who has been playing for Zawiercie since 2023, had 112 receptions in 27 sets played this season, and hit a good 31% perfect receptions.

With Olympiacos Piraeus coming from the Qualification Rounds, where they needed to eliminate three teams to get into the 4th round, Dimitrios Tziavras could not be overlooked. Tziavras had 266 receptions this season, where the Greek side was fantastic, securing a quarter-finals berth after a 23-year-wait.

Before the quarter-finals, Projekt Warszawa were flawless and only lost one match this season, but were out of contention early, in the quarter-finals. Yet their performances could not be easily overlooked, as the Polish side had Damian Wojtasek on this shortlist. Wojtasek, who was the best libero in the CEV Champions League Men in 2014, had 116 receptions this season.

Gage Thomas Worsley also shone for SVG Luneburg this season, with 169 receptions, as the German side made the quarter-finals for the first time in history, and is on the shortlist, while Italian libero Marco Gaggini also made the shortlist, with 159 receptions for Mint Vero Volley Monza.

The 2025 CEV Champions League Volley All-Star Team voting is now open!

How it works

•    There are 8 nominated players for each position, as well as head coaches: you are asked to cast three votes for each category
•    For Middle Blockers and Outside hitters, the 2 players with the highest amount of votes will be selected as part of the ALL-Star Team.
•    The Fan Vote will count for 50% of the final voting result, with the other 50% being represented by the votes given by Champions League clubs team captains and team Head Coaches