Press in Sopot
The head coach of Atom Trefl, Teun Buijs, last year made the Playoffs while being at the helm of Germany’s SCHWERINER SC. “I can’t wait for the start of this competition and I am very happy that we have the opportunity to play some of the best teams in the world. VakifBank is the current world champion and winner of the last edition, so everyone knows that this team is incredibly strong. GENT Dames and Dinamo Romprest BUCURESTI can also play good Volleyball and they all have got a long history also in the European Cups. So I think that each game of the League Round will be very interesting. However, our goal remains to finish second in the group.”
Izabela Belcik will be once more the captain of Atom Trefl. “The CEV Volleyball Champions League is a very unique opportunity to show what we are capable of also on an international stage. This is an extra motivation for all players. Though our primary goal is to make the final of the national league, I can also assure our fans that we will try to perform as good as we can also in the CEV Volleyball Champions League. Each match is equally important and it does not matter if this is played for the national league or the European Cups. Every time we take the court, we want to win and we won’t be afraid even of VakifBank though we know that right now this is the best team in the world. We want to fight and go beyond our limits”.
Charlotte Leys and Anna Podolec also attended the press conference. Leys used to play in her native country, Belgium and therefore she knows GENT Dames quite well while Podolec spent some time in Romania playing for Dinamo Romprest. “I spent four years in Belgium and so I know GENT very well. It is a good team playing fast Volleyball so we need to serve good and display good defense. The Belgian fans are really friendly so our away match in Gent will be a very nice experience, especially for me. I also know some of the players from their team. However, with our fans cheering on us from the stands, I believe they will have a tough time here in Sopot. I hope we can beat them here as well as in Belgium when we go there for our second match up” Leys said.
“I spent only some months with Dinamo but I can only say that this is a strong team that is always fighting for first place in their national league” said Podolec about their Romanian opponent. “I do not know what they have planned for this campaign but I am sure they will try to play their best. I am going to play my best as well and try to help my team win the matches with Dinamo. Every year as they join the European Cups there is a lot of pressure on their shoulders, so I think that we shall try to exploit this and turn it into our favor” Podolec concluded.
To read more about this competition check out our CEV Champions League 2013/2014 coverage page.
