Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO adds another trophy to the Italian tally

Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO adds another trophy to the Italian tally 2009/2010 CEV Cup - Men

Maaseik, Belgium, March 28, 2010. After RPA-LuigiBacchi.it PERUGIA had clipped the GM Capital Challenge Cup this afternoon, the Italian Volleyball family had something more to celebrate as Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO finished the weekend with a stellar performance to pick up the 2009/2010 CEV Cup. Belgian-born captain Wout Wijsmans was certainly more than pleased with his comeback to the place where he started playing Volleyball as a young pupil since he was also massively voted MVP of that competition. That’s the third time that CUNEO tops the final standings of the CEV Cup (previously in 1996 and 2002) and the seventh European trophy for the guys from Piedmont since the mid ‘90s. Results Final match Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO (ITA) vs. Iskra ODINTSOVO (RUS) 3:1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 26-24) Classification match 3/4 CoprAtlantide PIACENZA (ITA) vs. Noliko MAASEIK (BEL) 1:3 (20-25, 25-23, 16-25, 19-25) Click here for a picture gallery Click here for more information including detailed statistics Individual Awards MVP: Wout Wijsmans (Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO) Best Blocker: Simon Van de Voorde (Noliko MAASEIK) Best Libero: Hubert Henno (Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO) Best Receiver: Bert Derkoningen (Noliko MAASEIK) Best Scorer: Jochen Schöps (Iskra ODINTSOVO) Best Server: Wout Wijsmans (Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO) Best Setter: Nikola Grbic (Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO) Best Spiker: Jochen Schöps (Iskra ODINTSOVO) Final match Two real Volleyball powerhouses had qualified for the final match of this year’s CEV Cup and this game was expected to be a real show of strength taking into consideration the impressive physical skills of both teams. Iskra ODINTSOVO stormed out in impressive fashion and initially set the pace (5:8), but the Italians of Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO stamped a few stellar blocks to close the gap before an ace of young and very promising spiker Simone Parodi clipped the lead for the first time since the start of the match (13:12). The so-called “Blue Brothers”, i.e. the always colored and loud fans of CUNEO, accompanied with their funny and “customized” choirs all the actions of their favorite heroes who finished in their favor a classy rally featuring many great actions with a double block consisting of Mastrangelo and Nikolov (18:18). With Kruglov being forced to experience what it feels to crash against such a powerful couple of towers, coach Tsvetnov asked for a short break (21:19 for CUNEO) but Nikolov stamped another stellar pipe from the back row before an ace of Mastrangelo called for four set balls in a row. The Italians missed their first chance but a few seconds later the first set was already over as Mysin served well off the court. The guys from the Moscow Region started the second set again with the right tempo (5:8) but the reaction of the Italians was not too late. Captain Wijsmans, a real favorite of the local audience since he originally stems from this area, finally got into the match and with the help of Serbian setter Nikola Grbic – an Olympic champion back in Sydney 2000 – CUNEO produced some wonderful play to change gear and head confidently towards the second technical break (16:13). However, ODINTSOVO did not let it go that easily and stormed back to tie at 16, hence backing up the initial assumption that the game was certainly going to be a furious and close battle. The Russians continued their positive streak (20:24) before Schöps called it off with a delicious lob for the 1:1. With their compatriots of PERUGIA having clipped this afternoon the GM Capital Challenge Cup in front of a home audience, the guys of CUNEO were certainly targeting another trophy for the Italian Volleyball family and it seemed that the quality and power of their play increased steadily throughout the third set (8:4 and 16:12 for the technical time-outs). Captain Wijsmans fulfilled the expectations of the “Blue Brothers” who from the tribunes had asked him to stamp an ace and Nikolov scored twice in a row from the right wing to move up the score to a well reassuring 21:14. It was not yet over since Iskra came pretty close (with a 1:5 break), so coach Giuliani decided to try another option with young Latvian Janis Peda substituting Nikolov for what he certainly hoped would have been the last rallies of the set. Wijsmans accelerated the final decision with a diagonal spike before one of the most promising Italian talents, Simone Parodi, squeezed in with an impressive pipe from the back row. The fourth set might have been assumed as a perfect trademark of a great final match, with the teams setting up a real fight and being not able to seize even a slim mini-break before CUNEO finally did so via captain Wijsmans and Mastrangelo (21:19). However, Kruglov served a real “bomb” for another tie at 21 just to confirm that the final word was yet to be said. The Italians missed a first match ball at 24:23 but Nikolov smashed powerfully to fire up the party and add another European Cup to the already massive count of the Italians. Classification match 3/4 With the demanding Playoffs of the national league coming up very soon and after the disappointing performance displayed in yesterday’s semifinal against the compatriots of Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO, coach Angelo Lorenzetti did not want to risk any injury and finally opted to play with his back-up players the classification match of this year’s CEV Cup. That certainly created the right conditions for the hosts of Noliko MAASEIK to have a real shot at the bronze medal and the Belgians did not waste much time to fire up their fans. After having enjoyed a clear leadership for most of the first set, the Belgians had to realize that PIACENZA was still not going to bury the hatchet that quickly and Sequeira finalized a furious comeback tying the score at 15. However, right after the second technical break, Noliko found back the right tempo to quickly sail away for the final 25-20 with a more than precious contribution coming from van Walle – who stamped also a couple of aces in a row - and van de Voorde. In the last section of the set Brazilian star Joao Paulo Pereira Bravo was to be seen on the court for PIACENZA and even captain Hristo Zlatanov made a short appearance there but it was definitely not enough to stop the marvelous run of the hosts. After Cuban opposite Leonel Marshall got injured – being out for the rest of the season – the Italians have been struggling also in their national league, dropping down in only a few weeks to an embarrassing seventh place, and in their quest to save energies as they aim to defend the title they clipped last year, continued to play this match with their second-best line-up. Noliko did not miss that chance and played with brave hearts (8:3); that was, nevertheless, not yet a golden highway for the Belgians since PIACENZA finally decided to defend its prestige and the responsibility deriving from being the reigning Italian champion. Urnaut, Grassano and Rak all found the right understanding with setter Boninfante and also the block turned out to be quite a consistent weapon for the guys of coach Lorenzetti (21:18). Although captain Zlatanov did not contribute any ace in his second quick appearance on the court, the Italians bagged the second set with a pipe of Czech middle blocker Michal Rak. With Noliko solidly leading the operations (20:13), middle blocker Jo van Decraen was forced to leave the field as he injured his ankle but nevertheless MAASEIK was not too harmed with that and the young Belgians cruised to the final 25-16 with a double block featuring van Harskamp and Colombian Viafara. In the fourth set, PIACENZA totally collapsed in reception right after the second technical break and Noliko did not have to wait that much to start celebrating a bronze medal that backs up the strong performance the Belgians had displayed two years ago in Rome as they had finished second there, once again in the CEV Cup.