Lausanne, Switzerland, May 14, 2019 - Cucine Lube Civitanova came back from the brink on Tuesday night to celebrate their fifth Italian Men's League title after an epic comeback away win at Sir Safety Conad Perugia in the deciding fifth game of the best-of-five final series 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-12, 25-21, 15-10).
Bulgaria's Tsvetan Sokolov with 19 points and match MVP Osmany Juantorena led the Lube onslaught after the visitors found themselves trailing by two sets before a 4,000-strong sellout crowd at Perugia's Pala Barton. Wilfredo Leon was top scorer of the match with 20 points for the home side who were absolutely overpowered on the net with 18 stuffs to 6 and a 63% (56/89) to 37% (38/103) attacking efficiency.
This was the last of the major club leagues around the world to wrap up, ahead of the European Champions League finals scheduled for Saturday in Berlin. In a double-header in the German capital Lube will be challenging defending champions Zenit Kazan of Russia for the men's title, while Imoco Volley Conegliano and Igor Gorgonzola Novara will be battling it out in an all-Italian women's final.
The European Champions League finals bring the club season to a close, just ahead of the start of the FIVB season which kicks off just three days later on May 21 with the 2019 Women's Volleyball Nations League, followed by the Men's VNL on May 31.
Quick links - Volleyball:
FIVB.com - Volleyball Nations League
FIVB.com - Volleyball
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