UPCN and Sada Cruzeiro will have a another rematch in the final of the South American Men's Club Championship
San Juan, Argentina, February 15, 2015 – Hosts UPCN San Juan Volleyball outlasted Taubate / Funvic in a gripping five-setter (13-25, 29-27, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10), while defending champions Sada Cruzeiro of Brazil defeated UPCN’s compatriots Lomas Volleyball in straight sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-18) in the semifinal of the South American Men’s Club Championship at the Aldo Cantoni Stadium on Saturday.
UPCN will make its fifth consecutive finals appearance at the South American Club Championship and will qualify for the third time in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship that will take place in Brazil.
UPCN opposite Nikolay Uchikov once again proved his scoring proficiency with a 23-point output that led the Argentine club in the crucial tiebreaker.
“We were very confident since the start of the competition and we worked hard every day, with the goal of qualifying for the Club World Championship,” UPCN outside hitter Javier Filardi said. “Now we have to relish the final match and we will give our best shot because we want to win the title in front of our home fans. Today, there were many people that usually do not watch volleyball, so it was very nice to feel their support. Maybe we can make them start enjoying volleyball altogether.”
“Having lost the second set when we were winning, took us out of the match,” Taubate / Funvic coach Cezar Silva said. “After that our concentration became very bad. There were too many ups and downs in this match and UPCN San Juan took advantage of this.”
In the other semifinal match, Sada Cruzeiro dictated the tempo of the match against Lomas Volleyball, with opposite Wallace Souza leading his team in scoring 14 points.
Club Deportivo Linares of Chile took the fifth place, defeating Bohemian Club of Uruguay 3-1 (34-32, 25-19, 22-25, 25-13). Linares opposite Tomas Parraguirre charted 20 points.