Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA showing off their dominance in #CLVolleyM
Recap
In the electrifying realm of the Champions League, the spotlight turned to an imminent clash of VK Lvi PRAHA and Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA. VK Lvi Praha, proudly representing the Czech Republic, entered their arena with a rich tapestry of history in their wake. The eyes of their devoted fans were fixated on the prospect of witnessing their team ascend to new heights in a competition that beckoned the best from across the continent.
Facing them was the formidable force of Lube CIVITANOVA, a name synonymous with Italian volleyball excellence. They came into the match with a singular mission – to further engrave their dominance in the annals of European volleyball. And they’ve managed to do so as they’ve won against the Czech club by 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 23-25).
Lube CIVITANOVA started strong and they took the immediate lead 5-0. Lvi Praha struck right back (7-6) thanks to an aggressive serve and good defense at the net. But, fewer mistakes on CIVITANOVA’s side decided the close end of the first set (22-25).
The home team of Prague couldn’t find a way through solid Italian blocks in the second set. CIVITANOVA was a better team securing the set in a comfortable manner (17-25).
In the third set, Italian national libero Fabio Balaso made several spectacular saves during the play. Argentinian setter De Cecco also showed his extra class. However, the Prague Lions were not far away from winning the third set and dramatizing the match, but in the end, the Italians took three new points and took the throne over Pool E with a maximum of six points.
BLENGINI Gianlorenzo"We expected a hard match. The beginning was difficult with strong service from Lvi Praha, in particular from McCarthy and Schouten. We managed to stay in the court without getting nervous and thinking about other things. Step by step we played better, we found solution from the bench, replacing Bottolo with Nikolov. It was not an easy match because Lvi Praha play very good which they proved in Maaseik. We worked well defensively and were able to deal with the variability of all of Prague's attackers."
Head Coach of Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA
CHINENYEZE Barthélémy"We started well in the first set. Then they served really good. They did a really good game today. We knew it isn’t gonna be easy because they played at home with lot of people. We needed to put more quality in our game, to serve better, to defend and that’s what we did and that’s what won the game. The difference between the two teams was in attack. They served and blocked well but in attack that’s where we got better."
Middle blocker of Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA
Jakub Janouch"We didn't even win a set, our opponent showed his world-class quality. I'm sorry about the last set, when in my eyes we were reaching for the win, because mentally we were above them. Unfortunately, our mistake ended the match. I'm so happy that so many spectators came. We remembered it from last season's playoffs and it's something amazing. The crowd gets you pumped up and the game is completely different."
Captain of Lvi Praha