Japanese title for Lise Van Hecke

Belgian women are also making waves abroad. Lise Van Hecke hit the jackpot by becoming Japanese champion with Osaka Marvelous—the club's first-ever title. She was top scorer in both final matches against defending champions Kawasaki Red Rockets. Backed by Japan Tobacco sponsorship, her team struck a major blow in the first match, winning 25-14, 25-10, 25-21, with Lise scoring 13 points at 50% efficiency. The second match was more balanced (22, 21, 16), but the popular Lise stood out again with 13 points at 44%.

In France, Levallois Paris claimed the championship after two tiebreak wins over Nantes, even coming back from a 1-2 set deficit in the second match. In the men's competition, Poitiers has already secured a spot in the final with two wins over Chaumont. Tours surprised both positively and negatively: a 0-3 win in Montpellier followed by a 2-3 home loss, forcing a decisive fifth match.

This past weekend, Britt Herbots firmly cemented her place among Belgium’s best volleyball players—if there was still any doubt—by winning silver in the Champions League Final Four with her club Scandicci. She follows in the footsteps of Virginie De Carne (CEV Cup winner with Novara) and Frauke Dirickx (also silver in the Champions League with… Conegliano, as well as CEV Cup gold with Murcia and Challenge Cup victory with Vicenza).

Scandicci had a flawless run in the Champions League heading into the semifinals against host Vakifbank: 9 wins in 9 matches without dropping a single set. Britt contributed with 12 points (including 1 ace) and was noted as the best receiver. But the perfect streak stopped at 9: Conegliano, the national champion, proved too strong and swept the final 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-19 in just 67 minutes). The defense effectively neutralized opposite hitter Antropova, and while Britt managed to counter now and then, when Scandicci threatened in set two, the tournament MVP—Swede Isabelle Haak—rose to the occasion with 21 points.

Conegliano thus retained their Champions League title, a feat previously achieved only by Cannes and Vakifbank. The team is now on a streak of 21 consecutive wins since the 2022/23 season.

Laura Heyrman, with Milano, took home bronze by winning the third-place match 3-1 against Vakifbank Istanbul, contributing with solid blocks and serves. Notably, despite not winning a single match in the Final Four, Vakifbank coach Giovanni Guidetti was named best coach of the tournament.

Tomas and Simon also crowned champions

After Sam Deroo became Russian champion with Kazan, the golden season for Belgians abroad continues with two more champions.

In Spain, Guaguas also won the third final match against Soria 0-3 (23, 21, 20). Tomas Rousseaux scored the match point and totaled 10 points (47%, 2 blocks) before diving into the celebrations.

Although his contribution was modest—1 point (25%) during a substitute appearance in the second set of the second final—Simon Plaskie also became German champion with Recycling Berlin, which won three straight matches against Lüneburg.

One more Belgian might still clinch a title abroad: Liam McCluskey is in the Dutch finals with Orion Stars from Doetinchem, facing Lycurgus from Apeldoorn.

In Italy, Trentino is one win away from the national title after three straight 3-0 matches. Civitanova is the other finalist.

In Poland, a similar scenario: Lublin already won twice against Zawiercie and needs one more victory to become the surprising champion.

(Compiled by Marcel Coppens)
Picture: CEV