International men: Anderson, Ziraat Bankasi advance; Russell blasts away in Japan
Erik Shoji passes for defending Champions League ZAKSA/CEV.eu photo
This is Blair Lambert’s VolleyballMag.com weekly men’s professional volleyball report, featuring Americans around the world. Got a note about a player or a comment for Blair? Email him at blairlambert2@gmail.com
Matt Anderson took another step towards furthering his distance from the other American players as the the most decorated individual in the CEV Champions League. With the last matches of pool play all taking place Wednesday, Anderson helped Ziraat Bankasi claim first place in Pool A with seven kills, two blocks and two aces in a sweep of Olympiacos Piraeus. Ziraat is the only unbeaten team heading into playoffs.
That helped ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, which needed a better result than Olympiacos, to finish second place in the pool and advance. Dave Smith, making his return from a calf injury, fhad six kills and three blocks as ZAKSA pulled off a reverse sweep against Knack Roeselare. Erik Shoji passed 44 percent positively and 28 percent perfectly.
TJ DeFalco led Resovia and was MVP
Asseco Resovia Rzeszów handed Itas Trentino its first defeat of the tournament, but that was not enough to qualify for the playoffs after its loss to Tours last week. TJ DeFalco started the last three sets of the five-set win, finishing with 12 kills and two aces.
Halkbank Ankara needed five sets to beat winless Benfica, but that moved Micah Ma’a’s club ahead of Berlin Recycling Volleys and into second place in Pool C. Ma’a set Halkbank to a .388 hitting percentage and had a kill.
SVG Lüneburg started its first Champions League campaign with two straight wins, but that was followed by four consecutive losses and elimination. Matt Knigge had two kills and a block, while Gage Worsley put in a 38 and 15 percent passing performance in the sweep by Jastrzębski Węgiel.
Aleksandar Nikolov put away six kills and hit .182 for Lube Civitanova, who claimed first place in Pool E with a sweep over Greenyard Maaseik.
Japan
Aaron Russell had 27 kills, a block and an ace for JT Thunders Hiroshima in a win over JTEKT Stings and then had 20 kills, a block and an ace in another win over JTEKT the next day.
Thomas Jaeschke had 14 kills, three blocks,and an ace for the Panasonic Panthers in a win over the Tokyo Great Bears and the next day had 13 kills and a block in another win over the Great Bears.
The Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers lost twice to the Nagoya Wolfdogs last weekend. Cole Hogland Wantanabe produced four kills and a block the first match and two kills and three blocks the next night.
Poland
Josh Tuaniga set Indykpol AZS Olsztyn to a .255 hitting percentage while earning a block and an ace in a loss to Jastrzębski Węgiel.
Shoji had 67 percent positive and 20 percent perfect passes for ZAKSA in a sweep of PSG Stal Nysa. Smith had two kills.
DeFalco hit .400 on his way to 13 kills, three blocks and an ace for Resovia in a win over Ślepsk Malow Suwałki.
Italy
Gabi Garcia had 10 kills and a block for Pallavolo Padova in a loss to Cisterna Volley.
Kyle Russell led Gioella Prisma Taranto with 16 kills and an ace in a four-set loss to Mint Vero Volley Monza. Jeff Jendryk added five kills, two aces and a block.
Nikolov did not play the whole match for Lube in a five-set win over Allianz Milano, finishing with three kills and an ace.
Russia
Micah Christenson set Zenit Kazan to .452 and .360 attack efficiencies in wins over Shakhtar Soligorsk and Dynamo Moscow. He had a kill, a block, and an ace against Moscow.
Kazan claimed first place with a 3-1 win over Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in which Christenson had two kills, two blocks, and his team hit .292.
Türkiye
Ma’a set Halkbank to .333 hitting percentage and had a kill in a sweep of Spor Toto.
Anderson had 11 kills, a block and a match-high five aces for Ziraat in a sweep of Rams Global Cizre Bld.
France
Daniel Wetter finished with eight kills, three blocks and an ace in the middle for Paris in a four-set win over Toulouse.
Pat Gasman led all middles with nine kills, three blocks and an ace for Chaumont, which lost to Plessis-Robinson in five. Michael Marshman had five kills.
Quinn Isaacson’s Saint Nazaire hit .316 and he had a kill in a five-set loss to Montpellier. Jordan Ewert led with 17 kills, three aces and a block. Kyle Ensing had 18 kills, a block and an ace.
Kyle Dagostino passed 62 percent positively and 46 percent perfectly in Narbonne’s win over Arago de Sete.
Germany
Knigge had six kills and a block for SVG Lüneburg in a sweep of VC Bitterfeld-Woflen. Gage Worsely passed 54 percent positively and 15 percent perfect. Matt Slivinsky earned a kill in limited action.
Cody Kessell had a block for Berlin in a sweep of VfB Friedrichshafen.
Austin Matautia led TSV Haching Munich with 17 kills, three blocks and an ace in a five-set loss to Baden Volleys SSC Karlsruhe.
Brazil
Austin Wilmot hit .800 on his way to four kills and two blocks as Itambe Minas beat Volei Renata in five.
Argentina
Arentina leading scorer Brandon Rattray led all players with 14 kills, two blocks and two aces as UPCN swept Club Social y Deportivo Defensores de Banfield.
Austria
Tim McIntosh passed 63 percent positively and 37 percent perfectly as Hypo Tirol Volley beat Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel in four.
Finland
Felix Egharevba had nine kills and seven blocks for Raison Loimu in a win over Karelian Hurmos.
Greg Petty led Hurrikaani-Loimaa with 10 kills and two aces in a loss to Kokkolan Tiikerit. Troy Gooch passed 62 percent positively and 38 percent perfectly. Petty returned with 14 kills, two aces and a block in a sweep of VaLePa. Gooch turned in a 62 and 23 percent passing performance.
Colin Lovejoy finished with four kills, two blocks and an ace for Kyky-Betset in a loss to Kokkolan Tiikerit.
Michael Michelau earned 15 kills, three blocks, and two aces for Savo Volley in a five-set defeat to Karelian Hurmos. He came back with 12 kills and three blocks in a victory over the Vantaa Ducks.
Greece
Corey Chavers led A.O. Foinikas Sirou with 14 kills and an ace in a straight-sets defeat to AOP Kifisias.
Cameron Keen played the whole match for Athlos Orestiadas and produced a kill in a loss to Olympiacos.
Czech Republic
Tommy Carmody had a kill and a block while Spencer Olivier chipped in a kill for CEZ Karlovarsko in a defeat to Kladno.
Netherlands
Cole Gillis led Lycurgus with 21 kills, three blocks an ace in a win over Simplex SSS. Kyle McCauley was right behind with 15 kills. Cole Bogner set the team to a .349 hitting percentage.
Switzerland
James Norris scored on six kills and an ace for Chênois Genève in a five-set loss to Concordia Volley Lucerne. Dennis Del Valle passed 78 percent positively and 40 percent perfectly.
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