COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 27, 2016) – Outside hitter Aaron Russell and Sir Safety Conad Perugia continue to win in Italy’s Serie A league and is in third place in the league at 5-0.
On Oct. 16, Perugia defeated Biosi Indexa Sora, 25-22, 25-23, 25-17. Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) started the first two sets and scored five points on four kills and one ace. He was credited with eight receptions, 38 percent positive. On Oct. 19, Russell scored 14 points on 14 kills as Perugia defeated Bunge Ravenna, 25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 18-25, 18-16. Russell was credited with 20 receptions, 54 percent positive. Middle blocker Conrad Kaminski (New Berlin, Wis.), who plays for Ravenna, started the third set and scored one point on one kill.
On Oct. 23, Perugia defeated Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia, 21-25, 25-13, 24-26, 25-19, 15-9. Russell scored 16 points on 14 attacks and two aces. He was credited with 21 receptions, 43 percent positive.
Setter Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Cucine Lube Civitanova lead the league at 5-0, with only two wins going more than three sets. On Oct. 23, Christenson was named match MVP as Civitanova defeated Revivre Milano, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21. Christenson set his team to a .544 hitting efficiency.
On Oct. 16, Civitanova beat Top Volley Latina, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-18. Christenson scored five points on two kills, one block and two aces. He set Civitanova to a .495 hitting efficiency. On Oct. 19, Civitanova defeated Biosi Indexa Sora, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15, 25-16. Christenson scored four points on a match-high three aces and one block. He set Civitanova to a .356 hitting efficiency.
Middle blocker Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio), outside hitter Brian Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Azimut Modena are also undefeated at 5-0 and are in second place in the league. On Oct. 16, Modena beat Ravenna, 27-29, 18-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-13. Holt played as a substitute for the first two sets, then started the next three and scored 11 points on six kills, a team-high four blocks and one ace. Cook also played as a substitute and then started the last three sets, scoring 12 points on 10 kills, one block and one ace. He was credited with 13 receptions, 54 percent positive.
On Oct. 23, Modena beat Top Volley Latina, 25-20, 25-19, 25-21. Holt scored 12 points on seven kills, two blocks and three aces. Cook did not play in the match
On Oct. 19, Modena defeated Kioene Padova, including setter James Shaw (Woodside, Calif.), 29-27, 25-22, 25-23. Holt finished with 12 points on six kills, three blocks and a match-high three aces. Cook played as a substitute. Shaw scored five points on two kills and three blocks. He set Padova to a .321 hitting efficiency. Middle blocker Taylor Averill (San Jose, Calif.) is on Padova’s roster but did not play in the match.
Padova lost a five-set heartbreaker to Diatec Trentino on Oct. 14, 26-28, 25-12, 17-25, 25-21, 15-13. Averill scored 12 points on nine kills, one block and two aces. Shaw added six points on five kills and one block. He set Padova to a .480 hitting efficiency.
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n Oct. 23, Padova defeated Exprivia Molfetta, 25-13, 25-17, 25-21. Shaw scored seven points on four kills, two blocks and one ace. He set his team to a .576 hitting efficiency.
RUSSIA
Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) and his club Zenit Kazan fell to Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro, 25-21, 25-23, 25-15 in the final of the FIVB Men’s Club World Championship on Oct. 23 in Betim, Brazil. Anderson was held to five points on five kills in the match.
In the semifinals on Oct. 22, Kazan beat Italy’s Trentino, 25-18, 25-23, 25-18. Anderson led all scorers with 15 points on 13 kills and two blocks.
Kazan finished second in its pool with a 2-1 record. On Oct. 18, Kazan beat Egypt’s Tala’ea El-Geish, 25-14, 25-19, 25-15. Anderson, who plays outside hitter for Kazan, scored eight points on seven kills and one ace. On Oct. 20, Kazan fell to Cruzeiro, 25-20, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20. Anderson scored 11 points on seven kills, three blocks and one ace. On Oct. 21, Kazan came back to beat Taichung Bank of Chinese Taipei, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17. Anderson scored 10 points on seven kills, two blocks and one ace.
On Oct. 23, libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu, Hawaii), setter Kawika Shoji (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Lokomotiv Novosibirsk beat Ural Ufa, 25-15, 25-20, 24-26, 20-25, 15-13. Kawika Shoji started the first four sets and played as a substitute in the fifth, scoring three points on one block and two aces. He set the team to a .510 hitting efficiency. Erik Shoji was credited with 26 receptions, 69 percent positive.
POLAND
Outside hitter Scott Touzinsky (St. Louis, Mo.) and Jastrzębski Węgiel are in third place in the league at 4-1. On Oct. 15, Węgiel beat BBTS Bielsko-Biała, 25-13, 25-14, 25-16. Touzinsky scored four points on four kills and was credited with 10 receptions, 30 percent positive. On Oct. 21, Węgiel defeated Effector Kielce, 22-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-15, 15-13. Touzinsky scored seven points on six kills and one block. He was credited with 29 receptions, 62 percent positive.
On Oct. 26, Węgiel fell to MKS Będzin, 25-21, 29-31, 25-22, 25-21. Touzinsky scored six points on five kills and one block. He was credited with 33 receptions, 61 percent positive. U.S. setter Jonah Seif (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), who plays for Będzin, played as a substitute.
On Oct. 15, Seif, outside hitter Kyle Russell (Loomis, Calif.) and MKS Będzin fell to Cuprum Lubin, 25-16, 25-13, 25-19. Seif started the first and third sets and scored one point on one block. He set his team to a .211 hitting efficiency. Russell started the second set and scored two points on two kills. He was credited with 10 receptions, 50 percent positive.
On Oct. 15, middle blocker David Smith (Saugus, Calif.), libero Dustin Watten (Long Beach, Calif.) and Cerrad Czarni Radom fell to Effector Kielce, 25-23, 20-25, 17-25, 25-21, 15-13. Smith scored four points on two kills and two blocks. Watten was credited with 12 receptions, 42 percent positive. On Oct. 26, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle beat Radom, 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19. Smith started the first two sets and scored five points on two kills, two blocks and one ace. Watten was credited with 17 receptions, 59 percent positive.
GERMANY
SVG Luneburg, including Americans Michael Brinkley, Scott Kevorken, Cody Kessel and Eric Fitterer, opened league play with a 31-29, 25-23, 25-16 win over Solingen Volleys on Oct. 22. Kevorken (Westlake Village, Calif.) at middle blocker scored nine points on five kills, two blocks and two aces. Kessel (Colorado Springs) at outside hitter added nine points on nine kills. He was credited with 14 receptions, 86 percent positive. Fitterer (Edwardsville, Ill.), an opposite, started the third set and scored nine points on seven kills, one block and one ace. Libero Brinkley (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was credited with 18 receptions, 61 percent positive.
In SuperCup play on Oct. 26, Luneburg beat Pinneberg, 25-18, 25-14, 25-16. Kessel started the first two sets and scored seven points on five kills, one block and one ace. Kevorken started the first set and scored two points on one kill and one ace. Fitterer played as a substitute and Brinkley did not play.