Professional Males
November 28, 2023
That is Blair Lambert’s VolleyballMag.com weekly males’s skilled volleyball report, that includes Individuals all over the world. Received a notice a few participant or a remark for Blair? Electronic mail him at blairlambert2@gmail.com
There was a full slate of matches from European cup competitions with the Champions League, CEV Cup and CEV Problem Cup in full swing final week. Amongst some predictable outcomes, there was one explicit noteworthy upset in Europe’s premier volleyball event.
Champions League
TJ DeFalco’s debut within the Champions League led to a surprising end result as Excursions defeated Asseco Resovia Rzeszów in 4 units on Thanksgiving. DeFalco completed with seven kills and a .200 hitting share within the loss.
Excursions is at the moment 2-6 in France, and sits in eleventh place. Whereas French groups reached the finals thrice from 2001 to 2007, the final time a French group has received a playoff sequence was 2008.
Micah Ma’a received 21 factors from Nimir Abdel-Aziz and 18 from Earvin N’Gapeth as Halkbank Ankara went to Italy and left with three factors after defeating Fuel Gross sales Piacenza in 4 units. Ma’a set Halkbank to a .333 assault effectivity and in addition contributed a kill. Whereas this end result was not an upset, it was not seen as predictable.
In different Champions League motion, Dave Smith had seven kills, three blocks and two aces for ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle in a four-set win over Olympiakos of Greece. Erik Shoji handed 43 p.c positively and 26 excellent.
Matt Anderson had 12 kills, two aces and two blocks in his return to the Champions League as Ziraat Bankasi defeated Knack Roeselare in 4 units. Each ZAKSA and Ziraat are on prime of Pool A with three factors every.
The Berlin Recycling Volleys picked up a sweep in opposition to Benfica of Portugal. Cody Kessel was used in its place within the first and third units and didn’t rating.
SVG Lüneburg earned all three factors in opposition to Jihostroj Českė Budějovice as Matt Knigge had 5 kills, a block and an ace. Blake Leeson had 4 kills and an ace. Gage Worsley handed 59 p.c positively and 29 p.c completely.
Aleksandar Nikolov, who was the 2022 NCAA participant of the 12 months for Lengthy Seaside State, began the primary two units for Lube Civitanova in a formidable 25-17, 25-19, 25-23 sweep of C.S. Arcada Galati of Romania. Nikolov hit .700 on his solution to seven kills and a block.
CEV Cup
Chênois Genève swept Fino Kaposvar to get one step nearer to the following spherical. Dennis Del Valle handed 65 p.c positively and 47 p.c completely within the win. James Norris scored 5 factors within the center with three kills, one block, and one ace.
Chaumont fell to Nantes Reze in 4 units in a French matchup. Michael Marshman had six kills and a match-high three blocks. He was changed within the third set by Pat Gasman, who contributed a kill and a block. Dan McDonnell had seven kills and a block. Joe Worsley set Chaumont to a .392 hitting share.
Whereas just a few starters didn’t make the journey to Finland, Karlovarsko overcame a 20-25 defeat within the first set to take the following three 25-23, 35-33, 25-23 in opposition to VaLePa. Spencer Olivier began at exterior hitter, ending with 5 kills, one block, however a -.087 hitting share. Tommy Carmody had 4 blocks and two kills.
In what must be seen as a major upset, Hypo Tirol earned a 25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 23-25, 21-19 victory over Fenerbahce, which is undefeated in Turkey, together with a win over Matt Anderson’s Ziraat Bankasi. Tim McIntosh handed 46 p.c of his receptions positively and 21 p.c excellent for Hypo Tirol.
CEV Problem Cup
JT Hatch received the beginning at exterior hitter and had seven kills to go along with two aces and a block for Helios Grizzlys Giesen in a four-set win over SK Tirana of Albania.
Kyle Ensings’s 19 factors and 16 from Jordan Ewert helped Saint Nazaire beat Deya Volley Burgas in 4 units. Quinn Isacson set Saint Nazaire to a .427 assault effectivity and had a block.
Jaylen Jasper led all scorers with 14 kills and a block, however his Spartak Subotica squad had been swept by Fonte Bastardo of Portugal.
Poland
After taking good care of enterprise within the Champions League earlier within the week, ZAKSA was surprised by Barkom Kazany Lviv in 4, however Smith was spectacular with eight kills, two aces, one block, and a .889 hitting share. Shoji turned in a 71 and 36 p.c passing efficiency.
DeFalco contributed 12 kills, two blocks, and an ace in Resovia’s 25-18, 30-32, 25-18, 25-19 victory over Precise Programs Hemarpol Częstochowa.
Jake Hanes was used in its place in every set of Cuprum Lubin’s three-set loss to Jastrzębski Węgiel. He took eight swings and put away one kill with three errors in assault.
Josh Tuaniga set Indykpol AZS Olsztyn to a .453 hitting share in a sweep of GKS Katowice.
Russia
Micah Christenson and Zenit Kazan handed Fakel Novy Urengoy its first defeat of the Tremendous League with an emphatic 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 win as Kazan took benefit of Fakel lacking Sergey Grankin and Uladzislau Babkevich. Christenson set a Kazan squad that was resting Maxim Mikhailov and Artem Volvich to a .582 assault effectivity.
Italy
With Sir Susa Perugia taking part in on the FIVB Membership World Championships in India subsequent week, the match with Pallavolo Padova that was initially scheduled for December 10 was moved to November 22. Gabi Garcia scored on three kills and a block whereas hitting .077 in a 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 defeat to Perugia, the defending Membership World Champions. Davide Gardini led Padova with 12 factors.
That efficiency by Garcia was adopted up by eight kills, three aces, and a block in a three-set defeat to Allianza Milano as he hit .095. Gardini, a BYU teammate of Garcia, had 9 kills and a block.
Gioella Prisma Taranto suffered its fourth tiebreak defeat of the season to stay winless. Kyle Russell had 19 kills and two blocks in a 25-22, 22-25, 21-25, 25-22, 18-16 loss to Lube Civitanova. Jeff Jendryk completed with 5 kills for Taranto. Nikolov had 19 kills for Lube.
Japan
The Panasonic Panthers picked up two wins final weekend in opposition to the Nippon Metal Sakai Blazers. Thomas Jaeschke scored on 12 kills, a block and an ace. The following day he completed with 14 kills in one other sweep
Aaron Russell and the JT Thunders Hiroshima received each matches in opposition to VC Nagano. Russell’s 15 kills and an ace helped Hiroshima win in 4 units after which he had 23 kills, two blocks and two aces in a five-set victory.
Türkiye
Ma’a received the evening off from setting however Halkbank Ankara nonetheless picked up a sweep over Bursa. Ma’a was used as a serving substitute and completed with a pair of aces.
Anderson hit .500 in Ziraat Bankasi’s four-set win over Turşad, ending with 13 kills and three aces.
France
Chaumont bounced again from its CEV Cup loss with a sweep of Plessis-Robinson as Marshman had 9 kills, two blocks, an ace, hitting .375. Gasman had three kills and a block, Worsley had two aces and a block and his group hit .363.
Paris dropped a 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 2-25, 16-14 choice to Poitiers as Daniel Wetter had eight kills and two blocks. Colton Cowell got here off the bench within the second and third units, and had a kill on three makes an attempt.
Saint Nazaire made fast work of winless Narbonne and rested most of its starters within the remaining set as Ewert scored eight factors on eight kills and hit .438 in two units. Ensing contributed two kills and an ace whereas hitting .000. Isaacson set Saint Nazaire to a .500 hitting share within the two units he was on the court docket. He additionally added a kill, a block and an ace. Kyle Dagostino handed 74 p.c positively and 32 p.c completely for Narbonne.
Germany
Hatch had seven kills for Giesen in a four-set victory over VC Bitterfeld-Wolfen.
Lüneburg remained in second place within the Bundesliga with a sweep over ASV Dachau. Knigge hit .800 on his solution to 4 kills, three aces and two blocks. Worsley handed 69 p.c positively and 19 p.c completely.
Kessel began for Berlin (6-0) and had three blocks and eight kills in a sweep of TSV Haching Munich (0-6). Austin Matautia had 10 kills, hitting .360, and two blocks, and a .360 hitting share for Munich.
Finland
Hurrikaani-Loimaa received twice. Greg Petty had eight kills, two aces and a block in a four-set win over TUTO Volley. Troy Gooch handed 41 p.c positively and 29 p.c completely.
Petty had 14 kills and a block in a sweep of Akaa-Volley, his former membership. Gooch handed 44 p.c positively and 22 p.c completely.
Raison Loimu swept the Vantaa Geese as Felix Egharevba had three kills.
Michael Michelau had eight kills, three aces, and two blocks for Savo Volley in a sweep of Kyky-Betset, which received three kills and an ace from Colin Lovejoy.
Chase Direito was again within the beginning lineup for VaLePa and had 9 kills, hit .615, and had two aces and block, however his group fell to Karelian Hurmos in 4 units.
Greece
Matt West set A.O. Kalamata ‘80 to a .148 hitting share to go together with a kill and a block in a 25-16, 32-30, 25-22 defeat to Olympiakos. Ryan Coenen had two kills, one block and one ace however hit .000.
Czech Republic
Grant Marocchi hit .900 whereas getting 9 kills, a block and an ace for Brno in a sweep over Ústí n. Patrick Ross had three kills, two aces, and a block.
Tommy Carmody two kills and Spencer Olivier had one for Karlovarsko in a sweep of Benátky.
Serbia
Jaylen Jasper and Spartak Subotica had been swept by Vojvodina Novi Unhappy. Jasper hit .100 and completed with 10 kills to go along with a block.
Switzerland
Chênois Genève continues to be on prime of the standings after a four-set victory over Lausanne. Del Valle handed 60 p.c positively and 27 p.c excellent. Norris was used as a serving substitute.