Cucine Lube Civitanova opened its 2026 CEV Champions League campaign with a 3–0 win over Montpellier HSC VB, taking the Pool E match 25–16, 25–17, 25–22.
Aleksandar Nikolov led all scorers with 17 points and was named MVP, while Eric Loeppky (11) and Mattia Bottolo (10) also reached double figures for Civitanova. Montpellier, returning to the competition with a wild card, kept pace in stretches but could not break through Lube’s blocking and transition game. Ezequiel Palacios and Gabriel López Pascual finished with 13 and 12 points for the French team. Civitanova pulled away midway through the first two sets and resisted a late Montpellier surge in the third to secure the sweep. Pool E action continues tomorrow as PGE Projekt Warszawa hosts Volley Haasrode Leuven in Poland.
