Akaa-Volley, the top team in the Men’s Volleyball Championship League, has advanced to the top four in volleyball’s CEV Challenge Cup.
Pirkanmaa’s Akaa-Volley beat the Spanish Teruelin in their home section 3–1 (25-14,22-25,25-16,25-18) and went to the semi-finals of the volleyball CEV Challenge Cup with a total of 6–1.
In the third set, the Finnish team was down 5–9 and 7–10, but turned things around as the set wore on and took the next place, sealing the set clearly 25–16 at the end.
The first leg in Spain had ended with Aka’s surprising 3–0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-21) away victory.
The last time the Finnish men’s volleyball team had reached the top four in the Eurocups was in 1981, when the feat was accomplished (in the European Cup) by Pieksämäki NMKY, who did the same feat in 1979 and 1980.
LP Viest’s women’s volleyball team appeared in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup in 2013.
In the semifinals, Akaa-Volley will meet the Polish top team Warsaw, which beat the Romanian team Steaua Bucharest twice by a score of 3–0. In the second semi-final, the Turkish Galatasaray and the Italian Monza meet.
Previously Olli Kunnarin the team he coached had derailed Slovenian Merkur Maribor, Serbian Ribnica Kraljevo and Czech Aero Odolena Voda from the European Games.
The story will be completed later.