Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza faces the final stage of the season. Tomorrow evening, Wednesday, April 22nd (8:00 PM live on DAZN and SKY Sport Arena), the second leg of the CEV Volleyball Cup Final will be played at the PalabancaSport, facing German team SVG Luneburg. The referees will be Dutchman Suleyman Yalcin and Portuguese Raquel Portela. The PalabancaSport is sold out, with the box office open only for pre-order tickets.
The CEV Volleyball Cup, the second-largest club event in Europe, is up for grabs. In the first leg, played a week ago in Germany at the LKH Arena in Lüneburg, Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza won 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-16). Tomorrow, the red and whites will secure their first European Trophy with a victory by any score or by winning two sets. A 3-0 or 3-1 defeat will result in a Golden Set.
Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza reached the CEV Volleyball Cup Final by defeating Slovenian side ACH Volley Ljubljana in the semifinals, winning the first leg 3-2 (30-28, 25-20, 27-29, 20-25, 15-4) and the return leg in Slovenia 3-1 (19-25, 22-25, 25-13, 22-25). Meanwhile, the German team defeated Belgian side Greenyard Maaseik, winning the first leg in Belgium 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 22-25, 24-26) and the return leg in Germany 3-2 (27-25, 28-26, 23-25, 23-25, 16-14).
In Europe, Luneburg began the season in the CEV Champions League, playing in Group D, and finished third in the group, relegating to the CEV Volleyball Cup.
After winning the Bundesliga regular season in first place with 74 points after 28 games played, SVG Luneburg has already booked its place in the playoffs for the championship, where they will play the winner of the Berlin vs. Friedrichshafen series, which is currently tied at 1-1. In the quarterfinals, they defeated Herrschin in the first leg at home 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-21) and in the return leg away 3-1 (13-25, 25-22, 18-25, 21-25). In the semifinals, they defeated Duren in the first leg at home 3-0 (25-18, 33-31, 25-15) and in the return leg away 3-1 (20-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-27). This season, they have already added Zoi DVV to their trophy cabinet, defeating Friedrichshafen in a tiebreak (26-27, 25-21, 16-25, 25-21, 8-15).
The Lüneburg team is multinational: three German players are on the roster, along with three Americans, three Canadians, two Swedes, a Finn, a Dane, and a Japanese. The coach is German Stefan Hubner, who played in Italy. A blend of experienced players and talented youngsters, this compact team plays good volleyball and thrives on the court.
