Zaksa vs. Lube
The Italian Cucine Lube Civitanova scored a four-set win against the Polish side Zaksa Kędzierzyn-Koźle, partially 25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25-18, in the first semifinal of the 2018 CEV Champions League Final Four at Basket Hall in Kazan, Russia, to advance to their second-ever final.
Lube furiously started the game by making a 5-point gap (7-2). Thanks to an ace of Tsvetan Sokolov, they increased it to a 7-point gap (11-4). The ace of Mateusz Bieniek marked the return from the death of Zaksa (16-15), who managed to tie later (21-21). But, just then, Lube made a 4-0 run to close the set (25-21).
Zaksa kept near Lube in the second set before taking a 15-13 lead. Later, Lube managed to tie on several occasion but Sam Deroo’s kill block at 20-18 put Zaksa 3 points up, which is the lead they did not drop until the end of the set (25-22).
The third set was a one-way street for Lube (9-3, 16-9, 19-11). Osmany Juantorena put an end to this period with a kill (25-15).
Lube established domination in the fourth set, forcing rivals to pursue them all the time. Lube made a decisive step toward progressing to the final when they made a 5-1 run at 11-10. Dragan Stanković recorded a kill block at 24-18 to finish off Zaksa (25-18).
The Bulgarian Tsvetan Sokolov topped Lube with 20 points (3 aces, 2 kill blocks). Osmany Juantorena served 4 aces, while American Taylor Sander made 71% reception (21 digs, 48% excellent). On the other side, the Puerto Rican Maurice Torres scored 21 points.
Semifinals
Zaksa Kędzierzyn-Koźle (POL) vs. Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA) 1-3 (21-25, 25-22, 15-25, 18-25)
18:00 C.E.T.: Sir Colussi Sicoma Perugia (ITA) vs. Zenit Kazan (RUS)
The match for the bronze medal (Sunday, May 13)
15:00 C.E.T.
Final (Sunday, May 13)
18:00 C.E.T.
To see complete results, stats, and standings, visit our CEV Volleyball Champions League 2017/2018 / Male / Seniors page.
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