Trentino Itas claim the fourth Champions League title in Antalya

Trentino Itas for the fourth time in history claimed the CEV Champions League Volley title, as they mastered a three-set victory over Jastrzębski Węgiel at Antalya Spor Salonu to gain again the European crown. Trentino previously lifted the Champions League trophy in three consecutive editions 2009-2011.

Trentino Itas - Jastrzębski Węgiel 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-21)

Trentino Itas opened the game with full confidence, taking a 4-1 lead after Jan Kozamernik's block. Jastrzębski struggled to find their rhythm at the beginning, but step by step they were coming back to the right tracks. Tomasz Fornal's smart play over the net let them to equal the score at 8-8 and start the point-by-point race that was stopped by Alessandro Michieletto, who scored two in a row to move Trentino to 14-12 and shortly after served an ace to extend it further to 17-13. Although Jastrzębski managed to shorten the distance for a brief moment (18-17), Trentino responded with great plays from Rychlicki (22-18) and firmly aimed for a set win that came after another attack from Michieletto, who only in the opener scored 7 points.

The second set started with a 3-0 lead by Jastrzębski, but it was quickly erased by Trentino to begin a fierce race for every point, exchanging powerful hits from Kamil Rychlicki (8 points in the second set) and Alessandro Michieletto (6 points) on the other side from Tomasz Fornal (8 points) and Rafał Szymura (5 points). Entering the decisive stage of the set, Jastrzębski committed a few own mistakes, giving a helping hand to Trentino who jumped to 22-18. They didn't waste the opportunity and eventually - again - with Michieletto's attack they closed the set 25-22.

Jastrzębski had their back against the wall, but the third set also didn't start well for the Polish champions. Trentino took a 4-2 lead. The team around coach Mendez circled the wagons and equalled the score quickly (4-4) and improved their game in all elements. A double block from Huber and Szymur gave Jastrzębski a two-point lead at 15-13 and a ray of hope. Trentino made up the gap, but Jastrzębski was keeping pace with them. Two consecutive blocks from Kozamernik moved the Italian side to a three-point lead (22-19). Riccardo Sbertolli led perfectly balanced game and being only a few points from the trophy, Trentino speeded up. Rychlicki and Podrascanin's block on Szymura sealed the deal for Trentino, who won the Champions League trophy for the fourth time in history.

Alessandro Michieletto was the best scorer of Trentino with 16 points to his name (2 aces, 1 block and 13 attacks - 54% success and 73% positive receptions). One point less was tallied by Kamil Rychlicki - 14 winning attacks and 1 block. Marko Podrascanin and Jan Kozamernik were the best blockers with 5 stuffs apiece. However it was Tomasz Fornal who topped the scorers chart with 19 points (3 blocks, 1 ace, 15 kills - 52% success and 68% positive receptions).