2017 CEV Volleyball Cup – Women.
Stuttgart, Germany, January 9, 2016. It is Europe again! Allianz MTV STUTTGART are ready to start their second straight adventure in the European Cups, this time around contesting the 2017 CEV Volleyball Cup – Women.
The coaching staff and the players are coping with some difficulties ahead of their European Cup debut this season which is coming up on Wednesday, when Allianz MTV STUTTGART host the reigning Estonian national champions, KOHILA VC. On one hand, the schedule is very tight since the team again qualified for the German Cup final, where STUTTGART will be playing SCHWERINER SC on the last weekend of January, just three days after having to compete in Tallinn for the away match with KOHILA VC. On the other hand, the roster is showing a few gaps because of the aftermath of injuries and various other diseases.
And, a factor which is not to be sneezed at, is the fact that there is very little information available with regard to KOHILA VC. “We do have some videos, yes, but we do not have sufficient information about the level of the Estonian national league compared to the German Bundesliga,” says head coach Guillermo Naranjo Hernández (pictured). “We’ll see, and for sure, we will be prepared.”
His club tried to change the order of home and away matches, but due to the unavailability of KOHILA VC alternative venue, Audentes Sports Hall in Tallinn, which is meeting the CEV regulations, it was not possible to swap the matches and help STUTTGART avoid a long road trip just three days before the important German Cup final to be contested in front of at least 12,000 people in the SAP-Arena in Mannheim. “Nevertheless, we are thrilled to start the European leg of our season and for all of us it will be the first trip to Estonia in our career,” the Spanish-born coach added.
After winning the first SuperCup in the German Bundesliga at the beginning of the season by beating Champions League participants DRESDNER SC, Allianz MTV STUTTGART are eager to grab a second title and, of course, to reach the next round in the CEV Cup as well.
