Pool winners complete show of strength as #CLVolleyM Round 4 ends on a high note

The group stage of the #CLVolleyM reached its climax on Wednesday night with a full set of 10 matches contested across Europe, thereby defining the pool winners progressing directly to the quarterfinals, as well as the runners-up and the third-placed team across all pools that will move on to the Playoff round instead. Two teams from Italy and just as many from Poland plus Ziraat Bankkart ANKARA of Türkiye claimed the top spots, with last year’s CEV Cup winners from the Turkish capital city the sole team to finish Round 4 with maximum six wins and 18 points. 

Ziraat Bankkart confirmed their status as dominant force in Pool A as they beat four-time #CLVolleyM winners TRENTINO Itas 3-1 in Trento, courtesy of as many as 35 points scored by their star opposite hitter Nimir Abdel-Aziz. This way, Ziraat finished the pool stage by conceding three sets only to their rivals and emerged as the very best among the five pool winners. TRENTINO Itas finish second on a record of four wins and two losses. 

Tomasz Fornal, player of Ziraat Bankkart: “For us, at this moment, everything is going really well. Maybe we are not playing great, but I think the most important is to reach the goal. I do not know what will happen in the future, but every game is a new challenge for us and we are already thinking about our next match.”

ACH Volley LJUBLJANA of Slovenia lost their last match in the group 2-3 to TOURS VB and yet will continue their journey in the quarterfinals of the CEV Cup. 

In Pool B, rookies Bogdanka LUK LUBLIN completed a clean sweep of their group matches with a resounding 3-0 victory over Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL of Türkiye. Superstar Wilfredo Leon top scored with 20 points and Hilir Henno added 18 as the winners of the Challenge Cup in 2025 further cemented their status as a real contender for glory in this competition as well. Knack ROESELARE beat last year’s fourth-place finishers Halkbank ANKARA 3-1 to secure second place in the pool and move on to the Playoff round. 

Matthijs Verhanneman, head coach of Knack ROESELARE: “We forced a magnificent victory after a hesitating start. My players played fantastic Volleyball from set 2 on and for me, their play during set 4 was a joy to watch. We played physically very strong and we had high figures in reception. This victory means a lot for my team and for the club. It is something we only could dream about at the beginning of the season.”

Titleholders Sir Sicoma Monini PERUGIA almost replicated the feat of Ziraat Bankkart – their 3-0 victory over the BERLIN Recycling Volleys in front of a record crowd of 8,553 fans at the Max-Schmeling-Halle allows the ‘Block Devils’ to complete the group stage on a record of six wins and 17 points, just one short of Ziraat. 

Simone Giannelli, captain of PERUGIA: “It is always nice to play in this arena in Berlin. It was a really great atmosphere. We knew it would not be easy, but we played a great match in every set. We are happy to have advanced and to be moving on to the next round.”

Guaguas LAS PALMAS continue their run from the early rounds – they beat VK Lvi PRAHA 3-2 to secure second place and their progression to the Playoff, where they will try to replicate their sensational achievement from two years ago when they made it as far as to the quarterfinals. The BR Volleys, on the other hand, will have to be content with contesting the quarterfinals of the CEV Cup. 

The winners of Pool D and E, Aluron CMC Warta ZAWIERCIE and Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA, did claim the top spot on a record of five wins and one loss. Last year’s silver medallists from Poland finished their duties in Pool D with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Germany’s SVG LÜNEBURG. Even though they lost their last match to rookies Sporting CP LISBOA, wildcard holders Asseco Resovia RZESZÓW still managed to finish second on a record of three wins and nine points to make it to the Playoff round, whereas SVG LÜNEBURG will continue their journey in the CEV Cup. 

Michał Winiarski, head coach of Aluron: “I am really happy about finishing the group stage in first place. I am also happy for the result. We could see that at some stage the team from Lüneburg played really good Volleyball, especially in defence. They took many risks with their serve. That is why I am double happy, because my team was controlling each set from the 15th point, sometimes even earlier. We have three points and we are wating for the next opponent in the quarterfinals.” 

Finally, as many as three teams from Pool E have managed to stay alive in the competition. Group winners Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA of Italy were already sure of finishing first and they further cemented their position with a 3-2 victory over Poland’s PGE Projekt WARSZAWA. This result did allow the team from the Polish capital city to emerge as the third-placed team with the best figures across all pools – so they will continue their journey in the competition despite a rather rocky start to the pool phase. 

Aleksandar Nikolov, star player of Lube: “It was a battle. The team did well to stay focused throughout and ultimately secure a victory that we hope will earn us a good position for the next round. I think we can be satisfied with how we played this group stage, achieving five wins out of six matches. Now we look ahead in the competition with renewed confidence.”

France’s MONTPELLIER HSC VB are in contention as well – as they beat rookies Volley Haasrode LEUVEN of Belgium to claim second place in the pool.

The competition will resume on March 3-5 with the first leg of the Playoff Round where PGE Projekt WARSZAWA will host TRENTINO Itas, Guaguas LAS PALMAS take on MONTPELLIER HSC VB and Asseco Resovia RZESZÓW will welcome Knack ROESELARE for another round of mouth-watering matches.