Bolivar
No.1 Bolívar and No.4 Ciudad contested in the first tie-break in their playoff semifinal series in which the defending champions prevailed after two hours and two minutes, partially 25-21, 18-25, 20-25, 27- 25, 15-11. Thus, Bolívar advanced to their 12th ever playoff finals by claiming the series 3-1. As for Ciudad, they ended up by leveling their best result in the tournament of being among the top four teams for the second consecutive season.
The Brazilian Théo Lopes topped Bolívar with 22 points (4 kill blocks). Pablo Crer added 6 kill blocks, while Maximiliano Gauna recorded 91% attack (10/11). In Ciudad, Ezequiel Palacios scored 22 points (4 aces). Joaquín Gallego contributed with 4 kill blocks.
No.2 UPCN San Juan Vóley Club clinched the ticket for the finals, their 9th consecutive, after beating No.3 Lomas Vóley as visitors in straight sets, partially 29-27, 25-21, 25-23, to close the series by 3-1.
The Pole Zbigniew Bartman topped UPCN with 18 points. Federico Gómez made 79% reception (48 digs, 2 errors, 65% perfect). Lucas Ocampo scored 14 points for Lomas. Cristián Imhoff recorded 5 kill blocks, while Alejandro Toro made 75% reception (36 digs, 1 error, 56% perfect).
Bolívar and UPCN will play each other in the playoff finals for the sixth time, 4th in a row. So far, UPCN were more successful – 3-2. In case of becoming the national champions, UPCN will tie the number of Liga Argentina titles won by their fierce rivals at seven.
The best-of-five playoff finals set off on April 6, with Bolívar having a home-court advantage in the series.
To see complete results, stats, and standings, visit our ARG National Championship 2017/2018 / Male / Seniors page.
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