André Meyer and Matthias Klee
As drawn this past Friday at the annual European Volleyball Gala in Vienna, Pool D is hence the only group to which only national champions were assigned. Having claimed the CEV Volleyball Champions League title from 2009 to 2011 and the Club World Championship four times (2009-2012), Diatec TRENTINO can be considered the clear-cut favourite of the group. However, Turkey’s Arkas IZMIR has also drawn attention in the last years as they took the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup in 2009, followed by excellent results in Europe’s elite competition making it to the Final Four in 2012 and to the round of the best six European teams in 2013.
“Playing TRENTINO and IZMIR, we’re facing two European top clubs”, BERLIN club president Kaweh Niroomand resumes the DOL, adding: “LUGANO can be considered the underdog”. However, having made it to the Playoffs 12 of this year’s edition, the club strives for their second consecutive participation in the knock-out stage. Still, the team of head coach Mark Lebedew is aware of the major challenge they face: “Claiming rank one or two and qualifying for the Playoffs 12 is very difficult, but we accept this dare”, Niroomand says.
Within the context of the DOL, the CEV honoured players and clubs for their performances on and off the court. Surprised about the award for the “Best Organiser 2013”, Matthias Klee, Organising Director, said: “It’s a nice surprise and great recognition of the work accomplished by our staff and the many volunteers to whom we would like to dedicate this award”.
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