Indesit European Champions League men :

Pool A.
Paris (Fra)- Iraklis Salonicco (Gre) 1-3 (23-25, 21-25, 27-25, 24-26)
Uralochka Ekaterinbug (Rus)- Noliko Maaseik (Bel) 0-3 (23-25, 21-25, 18-25)

Standings: Salonicco e Maaseik 8 punti, Paris ed Ekaterinburg 2.
Next tour: 23/1 Maaseik-Paris, Salonicco-Ekaterinburg.
MAASEIK AND SALONIKI ALREADY QUALIFIED

Pool B.
Mostostal Azoty (Pol)-Hotvolleys Vienna (Aut) 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-23)
Olympiakos Pireo (Gre)-Levsky Sofia (Bul) 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 21-25, 25-22)

Standings: Mostostal 8 punti, Olympiakos 6, Sofia 4, Vienna 2.
Next tour: 23/1 Vienna-Olympiakos, Sofia-Mostostal.
MOSTOSTAL ALREADY QUALIFIED

Pool C.
Unicaja Almeria (Esp)-Arçelik Istanbul (Tur) 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-21)
Friedrichshafen (Ger)-Lube Macerata (Ita) 1-3 (25-23, 25-27, 18-25, 23-25)

Standings: Macerata 8 punti, Almeria e Friedrichshafen 6, Arçelik 0.
Next tour: 23/1 Arçelik-Friedrichshafen, Macerata-Almeria.
THREE CLUBS FOR TWO TICKETS!

Pool D.
Sisley Treviso (Ita)-Tours (Fra) 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19)
Istanbul Belediyesi (Tur)-Lushniki Mosca (Rus) 0-3 (21-25, 16-25, 21-25)

Standings: Mosca 8 punti, Treviso e Tours 6, Istanbul 0.
Next tour: 23/1 Mosca-Treviso, Tours-Istanbul.
AGAIN, THREE CLUBS FOR TWO TICKETS

Indesit European Champions League Women

Pool A.
Foppapedretti Bergamo (Ita)-Marichal Tenerife (Esp) 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 28-26)
Eczacibasi Istanbul (Tur)-Kastela (Cro) 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13)

Standings: Bergamo 10 punti, Istanbul 6, Tenerife 4, Kastela 0.
Next tour: 22/1 Kastela-Bergamo, Tenerife-Istanbul.
BERGAMO (Ah la Foppapedretti...:-)) QUALIFIED

Pool B.
Cannes (Fra)-Caposud Reggio Calabria (Ita) 3-2 (25-27, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 16-14)
Nova Branik Maribor (Slo)-Gunes Istanbul (Tur) 0-3 (15-25, 14-25, 24-26)

Standings: Cannes 10 punti, Reggio Calabria 6, Istanbul 4, Maribor 0.
Next tour: 22/1 Istanbul-Cannes, Reggio Calabria-Maribor.
CANNES QUALIFIED

Pool C.
Burgos (Esp)-Schweriner (Ger) 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19)
Uralochka Ekaterinburg (Rus)-Nafta Pila (Pol) 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 16-25, 25-14)

Standings: Uralochka 10 punti, Burgos 6, Pila 4, Schweriner 0.
Next tour: 22/1 Pila-Burgos, Schweriner-Uralochka.

Team Canada Players Making Their Presence Known in European Cups

The 2002 Men's European Cups of Volleyball are now well underway (Champions League, Top Teams Cup and CEV Cup) approaching the various playoff rounds. Fifteen Team Canada athletes have been making their presence known in the various cups, with many having already sealed playoff berths with their respective European Professional Teams.

In the prestigious Champions League which involves the top sixteen European Professional Teams, Team Canada middle blocker Murray Grapentine has been a large factor in helping lead his team to a current first place ranking in their round robin pool. Grapentine plays for Tours VB in France, and is near the top of the tournament stats for blocking and scoring while his team is sitting comfortably with a three win & one loss record.

Defending champions Paris Volley who boast three Canadian players Paul Duerden, Sebastien Ruette and Kent Greves, and a Canadian Coach Glenn Hoag, have thus far been struggling in the round robin play with a one win & three loss record. They must now win their last two games to have a chance of qualifying for the playoff round.

In the Top Teams Cup, which involves all European League Cup Winners, and Champions, that are not in the Champions League, Canadian Steve Brinkman has been leading his Belgium team Knack Roeselare, to a first place ranking in their pool.

"We play the 2nd place Castelo de Maia from Portugal on Wednesday, and the winner will be qualified for the quarter finals. Our chances are great as we play at home and our team has been playing really well lately," stated Brinkman. "We are capable of beating any team in the playoffs and we are excited about our chances."

Team Canada setter Doug Bruce and outside hitter Ian Taylor who play for Naefels in Switzerland, are also in the Top Teams Cup, but their team will not qualify for the playoff round as they are currently winless in their round robin pool.

In the third of the European Cups, the CEV Cup, which boasts the remaining top European Teams not in the previous two cups, the playoff brackets have already been decided. Canadian Volleyball legend Gino Brousseau has lead his Poitiers Team from France to an undefeated record, which has advanced them to the quarter final playoff round. Also advancing to the playoff¹s is Andy Zurawsky and his team from Greece, Aris Thessaloniki, whom are also undefeated.

Canadians that did not qualify for the CEV Cup playoff round with their teams include; Team Canada Captain Scott Koskie who was playing with Malaga Spain, outside hitters Dan Lewis and Bill Byma who play with Lausanne UC in Switzerland, Ryan Pomeroy and Jeremy Wilcox, who play for Durener TV, in Germany, (and are coached by another Canadian Brian Gavlas) and Team Canada veteran Ross Ballard who was playing for Esmoriz Ginasio in Portugal. Ballard had to unfortunately leave the tournament early with a torn ACL, and has returned to the Team Canada Volleyball Centre in Winnipeg to rehab his knee this winter, hopefully returning to train with the National Team in May.

Three of Team Canada Women's Team athletes are also participating in two of the European Cups but their preliminary results are unknown at this time. Jenny Rauh who plays for Albi France is taking part in the Top Teams Cup, and Janis Kelly who plays with Dam-Larochette in France, along with Jenny Cartmell who plays with Katrineholm UBK from Sweden, are both participating in the CEV Cup.

The Bulgarian champion Levski Siconco Sofia won its home match against Hotvolleys Wien with 3:2 (25:20, 20:25, 29:31, 25:22, 15:11).

The game was very challenging and lasted 110 minutes during which both teams showed very attractive elements of the volleyball game. The Bulgarians lead all the time in the first set and won in 21 minutes due to very strong attack of Stoev (¹4) and Nikolov (¹11). In this set they scored 12 points from attack, 3 from block and 4 from service.

In the second set Hotvolleys took the initiative and lead until the first technical time-out with 8:2 and later – 13:6, 14:9. The strong service of Laninovic (¹5) and Mc Kienzie (¹11) gave advantage to the Austrian team and destroyed the Bulgarian’s receiving. With attacks from the second line of Mc Kienzie and from the zone 4 of Priddy (¹8), the guests returned the game in 23 minutes.

The third set was the most exciting one where both teams equally took advantage. After equality at 24:24 the play became extremely challenging and both teams made a row of mistakes. Hotvolleys won this set in 28 minutes and Laninovic scored 7 points, Priddy 5 points and setter Taliaferro (¹3) also 5 points.

In the fourth set the guests lead until 10:8 but the especially strong play of Ouzounov (¹10) and Petrov (¹3) allowed the Bulgarians to equalize at 10:10. Throughout this set, Nikolov played extremely well in attack and Tsvetanov (¹2) at the block, which was decisive for the victory.

In the tiebreak Levski Siconco dominated all the time. Stoev scored 7 points with the last one from the service.

The Bulgarian players Stoev and Nikolov scored 21 respectively 17 points whilst 14 points go on Laninovic and 17 points on Mc Kenzie from the Austrian team.