Italy’s Cucine Lube Civitanova completed their CEV Champions League group campaign with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Poland’s PGE Projekt Warszawa, confirming first place in Pool E and direct qualification for the quarter-finals. In Belgium, Montpellier secured a historic play-off berth with a straight-sets win at Leuven, finishing second in the same group.
At the Eurosuole Forum, Civitanova prevailed 25-23, 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12 in a tightly contested encounter that lasted over two hours. Already assured of top spot, the Italian side showed resilience to claim their fifth win in six matches. Dominant at the net with 15 blocks to Warsaw’s six, Lube compensated for a slight deficit in service aces and edged the attacking battle 50% to 48%.
Nikolov was named MVP after delivering 26 points at 57% efficiency, while Bottolo added 19 and Kukartsev contributed 14. Gargiulo stood out in the middle with four blocks. For Warsaw, Bednorz led the scoring with 20 points, supported by Tillie (16) and Weber (12).
The match swung repeatedly, with Warsaw forcing a tie-break after capitalizing on late tension in the fourth set. In the decider, Civitanova regained composure, taking control midway before Bottolo sealed the win at 15-12. Lube will now face Zawiercie in the quarter-finals, with the first leg scheduled in Italy.
Meanwhile, Montpellier produced a composed 3-0 victory against Volley Haasrode Leuven (25-21, 25-21, 25-22) to secure second place in Pool E with a 4-2 record. The result sends Montpellier into the Champions League play-offs for the first time in club history.