#CLVolleyM Pool Previews - Newcomers Bogdanka LUK LUBLIN chase glory in group B

Rookies and last year’s #CEVChallengeCupM winners Bogdanka LUK LUBLIN of Poland will be making their #CLVolleyM debut this coming week – after last year they experienced a truly meteoric rise to the top propelled by superstar Wilfredo Leon. On the other side of the spectrum, Belgium’s Knack ROESELARE contest the competition for the 24th season – an all-time record. The group features two Turkish teams as well – last year’s national vice-champions Galatasaray and wildcard holders Halkbank. The quality of their rosters speaks for itself – and fans can expect a number of drama-filled matches in Pool B! 

Bogdanka LUK LUBLIN (POL) 

The reigning Polish national champions and winners of the CEV Challenge Cup in the early spring of 2025, Bogdanka LUK LUBLIN are making their first appearance in the #CLVolleyM and only their second in an international competition. They continue to add accolades to their growing cabinet since earlier this year they beat JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel 3-1 to claim the Polish Supercup. 

Wilfredo Leon, their top scorer in last year’s Challenge Cup, is no stranger at all to the #CLVolleyM, a competition where he triumphed as many as four times between 2015 and 2018 while wearing the shirt of Russia’s Zenit KAZAN. Leon also has multiple individual awards to his name – including Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2015 and 2016. The Cuban-born outside hitter was also the #CLVolleyM best scorer in 2015/2016 with 175 points. 

The roster includes another former winner of the competition - Rafał Prokopczuk achieved this feat in 2022 with Grupa Azoty KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE. Their middle blocker Aleks Grozdanov – a silver medal winner from this year’s World Championship and the best blocker of that tournament – is a former winner of the CEV Cup (in 2021 with Vero Volley MONZA) and the Challenge Cup (last year, with his current team). 

As the tenth Polish club to feature in the #CLVolleyM since its inception in 2000/2001, LUBLIN is coached by Stéphane Antiga. The Frenchman secured the #CLVolleyM title with PARIS Volley in its inaugural season and was involved in the first-ever #CLVolleyM match – a 3-0 victory for PARIS Volley over Austria’s e.on hotVolleys VIENNA. Back in 2014, Antiga coached Poland to their first World Championship gold in 40 years and last season he claimed the women’s national league title while at the helm of KS Developres RZESZÓW. 

Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL (TUR) 

Türkiye’s vice-champions return to the #CLVolleyM more than a decade after their first and only participation in 2013/2014. That campaign was not particularly successful as they claimed only one win and recorded five losses in their group, which included one of their rivals for this year’s competition – Knack ROESELARE of Belgium, to whom they lost both at home and away. They recorded their only victory over Poland’s Zaksa KEDZIERZYN-KOZLE in their last group match.

In recent times, they progressed to the final of the CEV Cup in 2019, which they lost to Italian standout TRENTINO Itas – and reached the Challenge Cup semis in 2017 and 2024. 

Last season, Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL were eliminated by Ziraat Bank ANKARA (1-3, 0-3) in the 8th Finals of the CEV Cup. Ziraat Bank ANKARA went on to lift the trophy. Later in the season, Galatasaray lost to the very same opponent three times in a row in the championship series of the Turkish national league. 

Their roster includes two of the oldest players in the competition, libero Hasan Yeşilbudak (41) and setter Arslan Ekşi (40). Only a couple of months ago, their head coach Umut Çakır led Türkiye to the quarterfinals of the men’s FIVB World Championship – the best result for their country in the global competition to this day. 

Halkbank ANKARA (TUR) 

One of three wildcard recipients, Halkbank finished fourth last year after losing both the semi-final and bronze medal match. This still could not make up for a very disappointing domestic season – they finished the national league competition in a shocking 8th place. Still, Halkbank are the only Turkish team to have reached the gold medal match of the #CLVolleyM – they did so in 2014 when they hosted the Final Four and lost the grand finale to Belogorie BELGOROD of Russia. 

Apart from qualifying for last year’s Final Four, Halkbank have shown consistency at the highest level, making the semis in 2023 and the quarterfinals a year later. 

Radostin Stoytchev returned to coach Halkbank earlier this year, just ahead of the Final Four after doing so when they reached the final in 2014. Stoytchev helped TRENTINO Volley claim an unprecedented number of consecutive titles between 2009 and 2011. Among the returnees there is also Bulgarian opposite Tsvetan Sokolov, who previously played for Halkbank in 2014/2015 when he was the #CLVolleyM top scorer on 199 points. Sokolov is a three-time winner of the CEV Champions League – with TRENTINO Volley in 2010 and 2011 – as well as in 2019 with Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA. That same year, Yoandy Leal was a member of Lube’s roster and secured a #CLVolleyM triumph as well. Marek Sotola was the second best scorer in the competition last year with 234 points. Halkbank’s roster also includes the oldest player in the event – setter Ulaş Kiyak (44). 

Across their 10 previous appearances in the competition, Halkbank have claimed 43 wins and just as many losses. Curiously, they have been involved in the two matches with the most points scored in #CLVolleyM history: 249 vs JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel in the 2013/2014 pool phase and 243 in a pool phase matchup with France’s SAINT-NAZAIRE VB Atlantique last season. 

Knack ROESELARE (BEL) 

Knack ROESELARE set an all-time record with their 24th participation in the competition, breaking away from Greenyard MAASEIK and VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN – who have 23 apiece. They have only missed out on the 2001/2002 and 2011/2012 editions. Their best result in recent times came in 2019/2020 when they reached the quarterfinals before the season was cut short by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. They previously made it to the quarterfinals in 2001 and to the Playoffs 6 in 2007. 

Knack ROESELARE have dominated domestic competitions recently securing the Belgian national league title for the past five seasons in a row – and they have also won the national cup four times in the last five years. Last season, they also triumphed in the first edition of the BeNe Conference involving teams from Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Their current head coach Matthijs Verhanneman played for the team from 2006 to 2025 – with only a break of two years spent in Italy between 2011 and 2013. Last season, Verhanneman was still playing for Knack and working as an assistant coach for their women’s team, whose roster includes his wife Yana De Leeuw. The Knack roster for 2025/2026 includes a former #CLVolleyM winner – Stijn D’Hulst, who achieved this feat with Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA in 2019. 

Last season, the Belgians finished the pool phase on a record of two wins and four losses, only managing to beat Austria’s Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK in the process.

Interestingly, Knack ROESELARE have lost as many as five matches in the #CLVolleyM group stage after leading 2-0 in sets – the most of any team finding themselves with a two-set advantage. Moreover, Knack have been involved in one of the two longest sets ever played in the competition – lasting 82 points. This happened in a Playoff 12 match with Russia’s Lokomotiv BELGOROD in 2006/2007 – a set they lost 40-42, but the Belgians eventually won the match 3-1.