In Germany, we witnessed the breakthrough of Robbe Van de Velde, who, after a long injury and an adjustment period, has clearly found his rhythm with coach Christophe Achten’s Düren. With 18 points (44% and 5 blocks), he became his team’s top scorer and helped secure a 3-1 victory against VCO Berlin. A day later, Karlsruhe also fell victim to Düren (3-0), with Robbe adding 9 points (54%). At league leader Berlin, Simon Plaskie scored 2 points (17%) against Königsmunster (3-0).

In Spain, league leader Guaguas needed five sets to overcome Manacor, with Tomas Rousseaux contributing 16 points (42%).
Looking ahead to France, where Tours will visit Knack Roeselare on Wednesday night in the Champions League. Tours won 0-3 at St.-Nazaire after defeating Tourcoing (3-1) last week. Julien Faganas was named MVP with 17 points (64%). Tours is currently in 4th place in the standings, closely competing with Chaumont, Montpellier, and Tourcoing.

In Italy, Taranto lost 2-3 to Cisterna, despite Wout D’Heer’s strong performance (12 points – 60% and 5 blocks). Milan easily won 3-1 against Padova, with Ferre Reggers leading the way (23 points – 57%).

In Russia, Sam Deroo and Kazan remain at the top after a 0-3 win against Surgut.

In Poland, Kedzierzyn won 0-3 against Bedzin on Monday night (Igor Grobelny 13 points – 61%). Lwow secured a 3-1 victory over Gorzow (Mathijs Desmet 14 points – 72%).

In the Netherlands, the official BeNe Conference lineup will be announced this week: Draisma Apeldoorn – Roeselare, Huizen – Achel, Aalst – Lycurgus, Leuven – Orion.

In Croatia, Simon Vlahovic and Ribola Kastela secured a 1-3 win against Varazdin.

In Denmark, coach Dries Hoeyberghs’ Nordenskov suffered its fourth consecutive league defeat, losing 3-1 to Ikast and dropping to 3rd place.

Conegliano wins the Italian Cup
In women’s volleyball, the main focus was on the Italian Cup final. No real surprise, as Conegliano claimed its seventh cup title in club history in front of 9,000 spectators in Bologna. Coach Santarelli’s team featured MVP Isabella Haak (21 points – 40%) and recorded the largest set win in history: 37-35 in the first set. Milan put up a tough fight, led by Egonu (24 points – 43%) and Laura Heyrman (3 points – 40% in the first two sets). Final score: 37-35, 25-20, 25-20.

In the semifinals, Conegliano had already swept Novara (3-0), while Scandicci (Britt Herbots 14 points – 26% - 4 aces and 40% reception) pushed Milan to five sets.

In Japan, victories for Queenseis (1-3 against Ibaraki, with 23 points at 41% for Kaja Grobelna) and Osaka (1-3 against Ishikawa, with 18 points at 41% for Lise Van Hecke).

In France, Venelles (with Britt Rampelberg) won 3-0 against Marcq-en-Baroeul.

In Greece, a top clash saw Olympiakos defeat PAOK in five sets, handing PAOK Thessaloniki (Ilka Van de Vyver 8 points – 25%) their first league loss.